This Love
by xoxoRuflyGirl
Summary: Hope and Aiden are living entirely different lives until tragedy brings back the old feelings that never quite left either of them., Though, Hope having moved on with Rafe complicates things.
1. S1E1

_**This Love…**_

 _ **Season 1 Episode 1: Man in the Mirror**_

It was summertime in Salem—Early June to be exact. It was an unusually breezy, chilly June. The warm weather hadn't quite caught up to the summer season quite yet. Even so, Aiden Jennings didn't feel the cold—at least, not on the outside. On the inside, it was an entirely different story.

It had been over a year and a half since he had last been in Salem. Well, that wasn't entirely true. He had been back a handful of times before, but never for long. He had always come back just to check on Hope. It always came back to Hope. No matter how hard he tried to forget about her, he could never seem to move on. She was always there, a whisper in the wind, or a little TV screen in the back of his mind that replayed the times had had with her over and over; and yes, even the bad times had played.

Aiden coughed, and rubbed his arms as the wind picked up. It wasn't really all _that_ cold, he supposed. He guessed he had just gotten too used to the warm, west coast weather in Oregon.

He walked through the park near the Town Square. He had never thought he'd be living in Salem again, but he couldn't go back to Portland—not anymore. The bad memories there outweighed the bad memories here. He knew he could have moved anywhere other than Salem, but he wanted to be here. It was familiar. He didn't want to once again start all over in a town where he knew no one—even if most everyone here did hate him. Anyway, Chase was here. Portland had only brought back bad, horrible memories that were better off left far behind. Though, some things he knew, could never be left behind—especially now that he would be living in Salem again. Hope Brady was a prime example. Well, it was Hope Hernandez now.

Aiden sat on a bench as he remembered looking at the Salem news article Online just over a year ago.

 _Two of Salem's Finest to Wed…_

The headline alone had shattered his heart into a million pieces. It had made him think back to his and Hope's wedding day. Oh what a glorious day it would have been if only he hadn't…

 _Go ahead. Say it. If only you hadn't planned to kill her that night. If only you hadn't made love to your wife and then gone down stairs in attempt to try to strangle her to death. Sure you ended up backing out of it, and sure it was because your sons' life was in danger, but is that really any excuse? You loved her. It was your job to protect both your son and Hope. You should have gone to her. You should have gone to Roman or Rafe. You should have done anything but agree to kill her._

"Don't you think I know that?" Aiden snapped at his own thoughts. "Don't you know how hard I still beat myself up over that every day of my life?"

A couple with their arms around each other had been walking by. Aiden had been so lost in his own thoughts that he hadn't even noticed them. However, he noticed them now as they shot him weird looks and hurried on past him as if he was some lunatic bum.

Maybe I _am_ , he thought to himself.

He got up off the bench. He had to continue to his destination.

As he walked, he remembered seeing Hope and Rafe running out, smiling and kissing each other, so in love and so happy to be just married.

Aiden sighed. Seeing Hope that day had taken his breath away. She was so incredibly beautiful. He had fallen in love with her all over again—not that he had ever fallen out of love with her. She was still the most beautiful woman he had ever laid eyes on. He knew she deserved better than him, which is why, as much as he still loved Hope, and as much as the selfish part of him still wanted to be with her, he could be at peace. Hope was with someone now who would love and protect her. She deserved to be happy, and all he himself had ever seemed to do was hurt her. If Rafe could make her happy in ways that he never could before, then so be it.

Aiden was so ashamed of the way he had treated Hope. She was the love of his life and hadn't deserved any of the horrible things he had done to her.

He shook his head. The thing is, he wasn't that same man anymore that had done all those horrible things to Hope. He had gotten professional help, and he was a changed man. He knew a lot of people claimed to be a changed and weren't, but that wasn't the case with him. He really was changed. He could be the man Hope wanted him to be. He could! However, it was too late now. He knew that. Hope was happily married to Rafe, and she and Rafe had twins—a boy and a girl. Rafe Jr, or "RJ" as they called him, and Faith. They were cute little things; five-months old.

Aiden sighed yet again. He knew he would never get Hope back. She had a family now; a family that he could have had, but lost. He knew he only had himself to blame.

Even though he was happy to see Hope happy, seeing her so in love with Rafe and married to him had felt like a jackhammer to his heart. He hadn't even wanted to go to the wedding, but he had waited outside to get a glimpse of her. He just had to see her. That's why he had come back to Salem that handful of times. Even though he knew it was over between him and Hope, he simply could not bear to go without ever seeing her in person again.

He had never gone up to her of course. He didn't want to upset her any more than he already had. Still, it made his heart swell seeing her beautiful smile in person. He also loved the way her eyebrow would raise when she was talking to someone, or the way she sometimes bit her bottom lip when on the phone.

Aiden shook the thoughts from his mind. He didn't know why he tortured himself. She was never going to be his again. He just couldn't help himself!

He decided to head into the square and get a coffee to warm himself up. He wasn't quite ready to head to his destination. Then again, he didn't know if he'd ever be truly ready.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

"Does it really matter what we buy for the twins? We could put potato sacks on them and they wouldn't care," Rafe said as he and Hope held hands in the Town Square.

Hope gently nudged him. "Oh, stop! What kind of parents would we look like if we just put potato sacks on them?"

"They'd be just as cute," Rafe said with a shrug.

"True. In fact, they'd probably be even cuter!" Hope said, smiling up at Rafe, and latching onto his arm now.

Rafe grinned. "So potato sacks it is then? I'm sure Caroline has some at the pub we can have for free!"

Hope laughed. "Will you stop? We're getting them new clothes—cute clothes—that will make every parent jealous that their children aren't as stylish as ours."

"They aren't going to a fashion show, but whatever," Rafe said with a goofy grin on his face.

Hope rolled her eyes. "Men! They just don't get it. Come on! This store looks cute," she said, pointing to a shop called Baby Love that had baby clothes in the window.

"So we're going in to buy our babies' love, right?" Rafe asked.

Hope laughed. "Haha..," She playfully swatted him then walked into the store ahead of him as he held the door open for her.

Rafe followed in right after her.

Aiden stood in the distance, sadly watching them as he sipped his coffee, but nether Rafe, nor Hope had noticed him. He finished his coffee and dumped his cup into the trash bin. Then, he went into Well-Dressed Man, which was a store that carried men's dress clothes. He still wasn't quite ready to head to his destination, and after witnessing what he had just witnessed, he needed the distraction.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

"Well, I think we've done all the shopping we need to do," Rafe said as they exited the store. "The twins have enough clothes to last them until they turn three."

Hope smirked. "They will be grown out of them in a few months."

Rafe rolled his eyes. "Which is exactly why it's not wise to spend so much money on clothes that they aren't even going to be able to wear for that long."

"Typical man, not caring about clothes," Hope said, also rolling her eyes.

"I'm just being logical," Rafe said. "We should have just gone to the Salvation Army and gotten them hand-me-downs until they stop growing so fast."

Hope playfully swatted him. "Oh, stop! We're done shopping for them, but I wanted to pick out a few things to wear to work. My work clothes are starting to wear."

Rafe groaned. "I'm tired. Would you mind terribly if I just headed back? We're already running on three hours. There's no use paying the babysitter any more than we have to if one of us is able to go home."

Hope shot him a look, giving him her infamous eyebrow raise. "Since when did you become so tight on money?"

"Since the twins came into our lives and I realized how expensive raising a family could be. We still have college funds to pay for, you know," Rafe replied.

Hope smirked. "I'm surprised you're not going to make them pay for their own college funds when they get older in order to teach them responsibility."

Rafe's eyes got big, and he smiled. "You know what? I like the way you think!"

Hope laughed, and playfully pushed him. "Stop it! We can afford to spoil our children, so why not spoil them?"

Rafe raised an eyebrow. "Remember how Ciara used to be before she hit her teenage years?"

Hope nodded. "Good point! We'll spoil them without going over the top with it. But a few clothes and helping them out with college isn't going to spoil them rotten."

"I know. I just like teasing you." Rafe kissed her cheek. "Here. I'll take the bags. You go enjoy the rest of your shopping, and I will see you when you get home. Just don't be too long, all right?"

"Just a little while longer, I promise." She kissed him softly on the lips. She then smiled at him, and handed him her bags. "Thank you!"

He took her bags from her. "See you soon. Just don't buy something you're going to grow out of soon. I've seen the way you've been packing in those Oreos lately," he teased.

Hope gasped. "Rafael you're going to pay for that when I get home!" She said trying to swat him.

He laughed, and quickly ran ahead, dodging her swat. "I'll count on it!" he said.

Hope watched him leave and rolled her eyes. However, she smiled as she turned back around to finish shopping.

She walked into Beauty and Brains just as Aiden came out of Well-Dressed Man. She didn't see Aiden, and he didn't see her.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

Aiden was finished shopping, but now he wanted a snack. He knew he couldn't put this off forever, but just for ten more minutes, he told himself. Ten more minutes and then he would go.

He went to the square's café, and sat down. When the waitress arrived, he ordered another coffee, and a slice of chocolate cheesecake.

As he waited for his food, he thought about his life these past two years.

He had been practicing law in Portland. He wasn't too fond of his colleagues. It seemed in Portland to be all work and no play. His fellow lawyers all just wanted to do their jobs then get home to their families. No one was interested in being friends. Everyone just kept to themselves and did the job at hand.

The Portland DA was nice enough, but he was an older gentleman, near retirement. Word had it they were looking for someone to replace him soon. Aiden supposed he could have stayed and fought for the job, but really, he didn't wat to be the DA. Sure it meant a higher pay roll, but he didn't really want that much responsibility. Besides, the last time he had been the DA, he had abused his power. He had learned the hard way that being put in into too much power wasn't good for him. He had been going to a psychiatrist the past year and a half, and the last thing he wanted to do was tempt himself into reverting back to his old ways.

"Here's your coffee and your pumpkin cheesecake, Sir," the waitress said, setting down his order on the table in front of him. "Just let me know if you need anything else." She gave him a flirty smile accompanied with an even flirtier wink.

Aiden smiled back at her. She was cute enough with short blonde hair and an upturned nose. She had beautiful blue eyes and long lashes as well as a nice little figure. However, she did look to be a good ten years younger than him. "Thank you so much! Please, call me Aiden."

She grinned brightly. "Okay, Aiden. I'll be back soon to check on you."

"Thank you," he said, returning her smile and winking at her.

She grinned even brighter, then left.

Aiden sighed. He had tried dating for Chase's sake over the past year and a half. Chase wanted him to try to get over Hope, and wanted him to be happy.

Aiden had tried. Oh how he had tried, but his dates had never made it past the first date, and he hadn't slept with anyone since Hope. He couldn't help it. He knew that things were beyond over with him and Hope, and yet, he just couldn't find a woman that could even come close to her. Hope had been the one, and he had just let her slip right through his fingers.

Aiden finished up his dessert, and when he asked the waitress for the check, she waved him off.

"It's on the house," she said. "I own this café, so I can do that."

"You own this place?" Aiden asked; impressed.

She nodded. "Uh huh! It was a graduation present from my parents. I got my business master in college, and to reward me, they brought me my first business. I'm Amy by the way." She held out her hand to him. "I'm only waitressing tonight because we're short-staffed."

He shook it. "Hello, Amy. It's nice to meet you. I really appreciate the free meal, but really there's no need to make it on the house." He dug into his wallet.

"You look like you're having a rough night. Trust me, my business isn't going to go bankrupt over one slice of cheesecake and a cup of coffee." She winked at him.

"Well, at least let me tip you." He handed her a five-dollar bill. "Thank you for making my night a little bit better."

"Thank you. And any time you need a pick me up, you know where to find me." She smiled and winked at him again.

Aiden smiled and her, and politely nodded. "Will do." He wasn't sure if she was flirting with him, or just being friendly. Actually, he was pretty sure she was flirting with him. He just felt awkward knowing that she was. "See you later."

"I hope so!" she said as he left.

He smiled. Definitely flirting, he determined. He still wasn't ready to date, but he had to admit that, as award as it felt, it also felt kind of good knowing that, if he were ready to start dating again, he still had it.

He then sighed, and finally headed to his destination. It was getting late. There was no more putting if off.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

Hope came out of Beauty and Brains, her arms laden with shopping bags, and was about to head home when she saw the back of someone who looked just like Aiden.

"Aiden?" she said quietly to herself. She knew she should just head home, but a part of her was curious. She hadn't seen Aiden in nearly two years. If that was Aiden, what was he doing back in Salem now?

She followed the mysterious figure. She had to find out if it was Aiden. If it wasn't him, she could be rest assured that he hadn't come back to cause more trouble for her. If it was him, she had to find out why he was back. Was he back to cause trouble, or was he just back here for work?

She followed him into the park. He kept walking, and she followed him in the shadows, feeling like a stalker.

He walked for a good five minutes, and she almost gave up and left for home. Then, he stopped. She walked a little closer. He had entered into the cemetery.

Suddenly, he turned toward her direction. "Who's there?" he called out. He looked directly at her, though she was still in the shadows and a few feet away from him, so she wasn't sure if he saw who she was yet.

She could tell by the voice, it was definitely Aiden.

Slowly, she stepped out of the shadows, and walked closer to him so that she was right in front of him.

He looked at her in surprise. "Hope."

"Hello, Aiden," she said quietly. "What brings you back to Salem?"

"I had to get away from Portland. Too many bad memories," he said. "I wanted to come back here. I needed the familiarity."

"You don't exactly have good memories here either," Hope said quietly.

"I have the good times I spent with you," Aiden corrected her, though, his tone was sad.

"Aiden, Rafe and I are married with twins now. If you think—"

Aiden cut her off. "Don't worry. You're not the reason I'm moving back. I know it's more than over between us."

Hope looked to the ground. That was a relief. At least he was still admitting it was over. "Okay, so what about Chase? I know you would never leave him. Is he here too?"

Aiden nodded. "That's why I'm here." He motioned around the cemetery.

Hope scrunched her eyebrows in confusion. "What do you mean?"

Aiden suddenly felt the tears well up in his eyes as he realized it was finally time to face what he had trying to avoid all night. "My son is dead, Hope. Chase is gone, and he's never coming back." He motioned to the grave in front of him.

Hope looked down at the gravestone he was motioning to. Her eyes got big and her heart sank as she read the gravestone.

 _Chase Jennings_

 _February 17_ _th_ _, 1998 – May 7_ _th_ _, 2018._

Shocked, Hope looked at Aiden, who had now collapsed down onto his knees in front of Chase's gravestone, sobbing, with his face buried in his hands.


	2. S1E2

_**This Love…**_

 _ **Season 1 Episode 2: The Sign**_

"Ch-Chase is dead?" Hope asked in a whisper.

Aiden didn't respond. He just sniffled, tears welled up in his eyes as he placed a hand over Chase's name on the grave.

Hope looked away. "I'm sorry. That was a stupid question. Of course he's… His gravestone is right…" She stopped talking, not really knowing what to say. Then she thought of the right word. "How?"

Aiden looked at her. "He died in a car crash, and it was all my fault!"

Hope's face fell. "You were driving?" she asked in practically a whisper.

Aiden shook his head. "No, but I might as well have been."

"I don't understand," Hope said.

Aiden slowly stood up, then motioned with his head for Hope to follow him over to the bench a few yards away.

Hope glanced at Chase's gravestone, still in shock, then followed Aiden over to the bench.

He sat down, and she sat down next to him.

"Chase had gotten released from the mental institution four months ago. He had trouble making friends. He had become kind of a homebody. I knew that wasn't healthy for him, so I encouraged him to go out and make new friends. He didn't know where to find any friends since he didn't go to school anymore and he didn't have a job. So, I talked to one of my coworkers whom I knew had a son around his age. My coworker agreed to have his son invite Chase out with him and his buddies. Chase didn't want to hang out with a bunch of guys he didn't know, but I pushed him to hang out with them. I reminded him how I had gone out of my way to get my coworker to ask his son to hang out with him. He was annoyed that I was, as he put it, 'begging people to hang out with him', but he went anyway—for my sake."

"Did they hit it off?" Hope asked. She knew she shouldn't be sitting here talking to Aiden when she should be home with Rafe, but she was intrigued. She had to know how Chase had died. She was still in shock that he was gone.

Aiden nodded. "I even had to promise him I'd start dating again. He'd make an effort to make friends if I'd make an effort to date. So, we both made good on our deal, and he ended up getting along great with his new friends."

Hope raised an eyebrow. "And you?"

Aiden shrugged. "I've had plenty of dates, but none of them lasted past the first date. I just…I can't seem to find anyone I want to share my life with. I already had the one and I lost her."

"Aiden…" Hope warned, her expression hardening a bit.

Aiden shook his head. "Don't worry! I told you I know it's over between us, and it's the truth. You're happily moved on and—"

" _Very_ happily," Hope interrupted.

Aiden nodded. "Very happily. I know that. My heart just hasn't caught up to my brain yet."

Hope looked away, suddenly feeling uncomfortable. "Finish telling me about Chase," she said softly.

"I barely saw him for the next three months. He and his new group of friends were always out causing some kind of trouble. Don't get me wrong, it was just typical teenager stuff. It was nothing illegal," Aiden assured her.

Hope looked at him and nodded. "That's good to know."

"One night I had decided to have a father-son night in. I was going to order his favorite pizza in and I had rented his favorite movie. I thought we might even play board games like he liked to do when he was a kid."

Hope smiled. "Ciara and I still have nights like that together, only we do girly things like go to the spa and dine at fancy restaurants just for the sake of dressing up in pretty dresses."

Aiden smiled weakly. "I was all set to hang out with Chase, but I guess I should have talked to him about it first. He had already made plans to go to a concert. Blink 182." Aiden smiled and shook his head. "The weird names of the bands these kids like nowadays. Anyway, he insisted that he already had a ticket, and that it was non-refundable. Besides, Tom was back as the lead singer and he just had to see him—Chase's words not mine. So, just wanting to see him happy, I agreed to let him go. It ended up being the biggest mistake of my life. That night after the concert, his friends' car—the car in which they were all riding in—got rammed into from behind. It went over into a three-foot-deep ditch. The driver of the car that hit them took off, never to be found. Chase and two of his friends died on impact. My coworker's son survived, as did the other friend, but both were in a coma for weeks. My co-workers son almost didn't make it. He pulled through at the last moment. He had been the last to wake up."

"That's awful! I can't imagine… Well, I sort of can. I know the pain I felt when my son Zack was hit by a car and killed. It bad enough knowing the driver was my stepdaughter, but to not know who did it…to not know if you'll ever find out who took your child from you… I can't imagine the pain. Oh, Aiden, I'm so sorry!" Hope said.

Aiden looked at her, a little dead in the eyes. "I appreciate you saying that, but you don't have to. I know you hated him. I'm sure you're glad he's dead after what he did to Ciara." He said it calmly; he wasn't accusing. As far as Aiden was concerned, he was just stating facts.

Hope scrunched her eyebrows together. "Aiden, I don't know if I can ever forgive Chase for raping Ciara."

"Good news: you don't have to now," Aiden said simply.

Hope placed her hand over his arm. "You didn't let me finish! As angry as I was with him, and I'm not going to lie, I'm still angry with him even with him dead... I never would have wished death upon him. I still remember the sweet little boy he used to be and it's heartbreaking to think that he will never be on this earth again."

"He still was that sweet little boy, Hope." Aiden sniffled. "I know you'll never believe it after he raped Ciara, but he was. He was a little older now, but he was still the same sweet kid he always was. I will never condone what he did. What he did was inexcusable and by no means condonable. But he was sorry, Hope. He truly regretted what he had done. He truly had. He got the help he needed, and he changed. He wanted to change his life around for the better."

"I can't agree or disagree with you since I hadn't seen him in two years," Hope said with a shrug. "But I hope you're right. Maybe he will have peace now in Heaven if that's the case."

"It is!" Aiden said a little harshly. He softened his voice. "It is. I have to believe it is." He looked Hope in the eyes. "He was my son, Hope. I couldn't just turn my back on him no matter what he did—especially not when he deeply regretted what he did and got help for it, having had the desire to change."

Hope nodded. "I wouldn't expect you to have turned your back on him," she said in a whisper. She then stood up. "I should be going now. It's getting late. I really am sorry for your loss. I understand the pain, I really do."

Aiden nodded. "I appreciate that. Thank you. Since I'm moving here now, I'm sure we'll be bumping into each other a lot. Don't worry though. I plan on setting up my own practice and staying out of your way the best I can."

Hope nodded. "And I appreciate _that_." She turned to leave, but then thought better of it and turned to face him. "Aiden?"

He looked at her in surprise. "Yes, Hope?"

He looked a little too eager for Hope's taste. She had planned on offering him a shoulder to cry on if he ever needed someone to talk to. After all, most all of Salem hated him. Who else did he have? However, the eager look in his eyes had made her weary. She still wasn't sure she could trust that he believed things were truly over between them. She didn't want him using this opportunity to get closer to her. So instead, she asked him a question that she had been wondering. "Why is he buried here instead of in Portland with his mother?"

"Meredith was cremated. Her parents have her ashes. They keep them in an urn on their mantle. I guess it's their way of still keeping her close. After Chase's funeral, I thought about having him cremated too, and then spreading his ashes over the beach where our old beach house used to be. After all, he always loved the beach. But I just couldn't bear the thought of my son being burned to dust. I also couldn't bear the thought of leaving him behind in Portland, so I had his body sent here. This is actually the first time I'm seeing his grave stone set up with Chase…" Aiden trailed off, looking as if he were going to start sobbing again. "Well, you know."

Hope nodded. "Well, you picked a beautiful stone out. I'm sure Chase would have liked it."

"Thank you," Aiden said, his eyes looking dazed and full of sadness. "I hope so."

"I'll leave you to your son in peace." Hope quickly took off, hoping what she had said wasn't stupid. All she knew was that she had to get out of there. She was starting to feel uncomfortable.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

"Finally!" Rafe said once Hope entered the house and shut and locked the door behind her. "The twins would _not_ stop crying! It took me forever to get them to go to sleep. I fed them their bottles you made up and it finally got them to sleep. I think they miss seeing your face before they fall asleep. Not that I can blame them." He pulled her closer and softly kissed her on the lips.

Hope set down her bags, then smiled, and kissed him sweetly in return. "Sorry I'm late. You'll never guess who I ran into."

"Who?" Rafe asked as he began unbuttoning her top.

"Aiden," she said quietly.

Rafe immediately ceased in the unbuttoning of her top. "What the hell does _he_ want?"

"You'll never believe what happened," she said, walking over to the couch and sitting down on it.

Rafe walked over and sat down next to her. "To tell you the truth, I really don't care what happened."

"Well, you asked what he wants, so I'm just trying to explain," Hope said, pushing some hair behind her ear.

Rafe sighed. "Fine, I'll bite. Why is he back? Though, I can guarantee whatever the reason, he's just using it as an excuse. He's obviously back for you."

Hope shook her head. "Not this time," she said in a whisper. "Chase is dead."

Rafe smirked. "Yeah, right! He's lying to you. You know that, don't you? This is just some warped way for him to get you to feel sorry for him and go crawling back to him. He's probably playing on your having lost Zack!"

Hope shook her head. "No. He isn't lying this time. I saw Chase's grave. Aiden was completely distraught."

Rafe stopped smiling. "Really? Huh. Then how did Chase die? I'm sure Aiden must have told you."

Hope nodded. "He did. It's horrible. He blames himself," Hope said, sincerely feeling bad for Aiden.

"I bet he does," Rafe replied, his tone laced with sarcasm. "How did he die?" he repeated.

Hope sighed, then told Rafe the story that Aiden had told him.

Rafe listened quietly until she finished. "Well, real or not, I'm sure he's still going to try to use this to get to you."

"It won't work, so it doesn't matter if he does. Anyway, I really don't think he's using it to get to me. I was the one who approached him; not the other way around. I saw him from the back and followed him to see if it was actually him," Hope admitted.

Rafe scrunched his eyebrows together. "Why?"

"Because I wanted to know for sure if it was him or not, and if it was, what was he here for?" Hope answered.

Rafe nodded. "So, let me guess, with Chase being buried here instead of Portland, I take it Aiden is back in Salem for good?"

Hope nodded. "He wants to start his own firm."

Rafe snorted. "And of course it has to be here!"

"He wants the familiarity. He doesn't want to have to start over in an unknown town again, and Portland holds too many bad memories for him now," Hope softly explained.

"Is that the excuse he used?" Rafe smirked; not buying it. "I feel sorry for his clients! Then again, criminal lawyers in general are shady. He's probably exactly the kind of lawyer these criminals want! I bet you Andre Dimera is his first client!" He laughed at his own joke.

Hope looked down to the floor. "I do feel bad for him. I know what it's like to lose a son, and so suddenly at that."

"See? It's starting already. Don't go there, all right?" Rafe asked.

Hope looked at him. "Don't go where?"

"Don't go letting him get to you. Don't start allowing this to give you sympathy toward him. This is exactly what he wants!" Rafe insisted.

Hope scrunched her eyebrows. "I'm not! It's only normal to feel bad for him after what I went through. Heck, anybody would feel bad for someone who lost a child."

Rafe nodded. "If it were anyone other than Aiden Jennings, I'd agree. But he has done awful things to you, and Chase raped Ciara. As far as I'm concerned, they both got what they deserved!"

Hope gasped. "Rafael Hernandez, that is a terrible thing to say!"

Rafe shrugged. "I'm sorry, but it's true. Neither one is/was a good person. And, hey, you get what you give in this life."

Hope shook her head. "Aiden isn't a terrible person. He just made some bad choices in his life. As for Chase, even though he's dead and I still can't forgive him for what he did to Ciara, I don't think he deserved to die. I don't even think Ciara would think he deserved to die."

Rafe opened his mouth as if he were about to say something, but Hope put a finger to his lips, stopping him. "But it doesn't mean I'm going to go back to Aiden. I do not love Aiden anymore. I'm in love with you. You're the one I'm married to, and you're the one I have those two beautiful twins with. I assure you, you have absolutely nothing to worry about!"

Rafe nodded. He then smiled slightly. "Okay. Just be careful around him, all right?"

Hope smirked. "There's no other way to be around him."

Rafe laughed. "I know that's the truth!"

Hope grinned. "Now, where were we before we had this talk, huh?" she asked as she took his hands and brought them back to her shirt buttons.

Rafe smiled at her, but before he could respond, the twins' cries could be heard over the baby monitor.

Rafe groaned. "Hold that thought!"

Hope groaned as well. "Ah the joys of being a parent to babies! I had forgotten how it's not all sugar and spice and everything nice," she teased as she let Rafe help her up off the couch.

Rafe laughed. "Far from it!" he said as they headed up the stairs to attend to their twins together.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

"I'm so sorry I introduced you to those guys. Had I not, then you never would have been out with them that night. Then again, I know you were really happy with your friends, so I guess it wasn't entirely wrong. Maybe if I had simply just insisted that you stayed home with me that night instead of going out with your friends… You would have been ticked off at me, but at least you'd still be alive. Then again, who am I kidding? I never could tell you what to do. You always had a mind of your own." Aiden sighed, then sat down on the grass in front of Chase's gravestone, not caring if he risked getting dirt on the seat of his pants. "I know what you must be thinking. You must be thinking that I'm going to try to win Hope back. I assure you, that's not the case. She saw me and followed me here. For once, it wasn't the other way around." Aiden laughed weakly. "Though, I'll admit, she still takes my breath away. I can't help how I feel. There is another woman who is interested in me. She owns the café in the square. Her name is Amy. She's cute enough. She's a good ten years younger than me, but like I said, she's cute. I'm sure she'd go out with me if I asked her to. I don't know though. I just keep thinking in my head that she's not Hope. I know, I know… Here I ago again. Don't worry. At least this time I'm not delusional enough to actually believe Hope and I will be reunited—not romantically anyway. I'm just not ready for anything serious with anyone else quite yet. I know it's been two years, but my heart…it's just not ready yet, you know? I don't know if it ever will be."

Suddenly, a gust of wind picked up and blew a little bundle of Forget-Me-Nots over to Aiden from three graves over.

Aiden picked the bouquet up and sniffed them. "I'll never forget you, Chase. I mean, how could I? You're my son and I love you. I always will." He sniffed the flowers again. "I was going to bring you flowers for your grave, but I wasn't sure if that was too girly or not. Maybe next time I come to visit? I plan on visiting you daily, you know. Even when it starts to get cold and blustery, I'll be here." He grinned. "I may not stay as long, but I'll be here." He sighed. "I better put these back. I can't be grave robbing now, even if they did blow over here on their own." He headed over to the gravestone where he had seen the flowers blow over from, and he paused when he saw the name on the tombstone.

 _Amy Thompson. Loving Daughter, Sister, and Wife._

"Amy like from the café…" he muttered. This Amy had died just last year at the age of thirty. Aiden wondered how she had died at such a young age.

He placed the flowers back down in front of her grave, then headed back to Chase's grave. "So, was that supposed to be some sort of sign from you that I should ask Amy out on a date? Cute. Very cute. Clever too! Too bad it wasn't a rose instead of a bouquet of forget-me-nots. It could have been like _The Bachelor_!" Aiden joked. He sighed. "I miss being able to hear you laugh with me. Well, as far as asking Amy out goes, I'll think about it. That's all I can promise for now. Okay?" He smiled weakly, then leaned down and kissed the top of Chase's gravestone. "Goodnight, Son. I'll see you tomorrow." He then left with Amy on his mind, but Hope in his heart.


	3. S1E3

_**This Love…**_

 _ **Season 1 Episode 3: Macho Man**_

The next morning, Aiden was on a mission. He wanted to get his new law firm up and running. However, before he could start to work on the permits, or any of the other legal things he would need to do, he needed to find a location. Prior, he had scoped out a few on his tablet, and now he wanted to check out his options today.

He headed to the square to get a quick breakfast before heading out to find a building.

He sat down at one of the tables, and a waitress who wasn't Amy came over to take his order.

"I will have a cup of coffee with one cream please, as well as an order of bacon, and a chocolate croissant," he ordered.

"Coming right up!" the waitress said with a bright smile as she took his menu and headed off to put his order in.

Aiden looked around, but he didn't see Amy anywhere. He supposed it was a good thing. He hadn't decided just yet if he wanted to ask her out or not.

He turned his attention back to his tablet as he went over the building options again. One building wasn't in as good of a part of town as he would like, but it was a much more spacious option. Another building was just the opposite. It was a little smaller, but it a much safer part of town. There were a couple other decent sized buildings, but he would have to travel a half hour away for one of them, and forty-five minutes away for the other. He wasn't quite sure what he wanted to do. He supposed he would visit them all and decide from there.

Meanwhile, Hope and Rafe were headed to the square to get some breakfast to go before heading over to the station. They brought the twins with them because they were dropping them off at the park with the babysitter before work.

Just as they were about to enter the square, Rafe got a call. "It's a friend of mine from the FBI. I called him yesterday and asked him to dig up all he knows about Jake Everly," Rafe said, referring to the prime suspect in a case they were currently working on. "He may have found something. Do you mind going on ahead? I'll catch up."

"Sure thing. A Blueberry muffin with extra butter and a coffee with one cream and two sugars?" Hope asked with a smile.

Rafe grinned. "You know it!" he said before answering his phone. "Hernandez."

Hope gave him an air kiss, then wheeled the twins into the square. She had fed them before she had left. She still had five minutes before meeting the sitter, so she just planned on picking up hers and Rafe's breakfast first. The café never took that long this time of morning.

She went up to the counter for counter ordering and quickly put her order in for Rafe's extra-buttered blueberry muffin and one cream, to sugars coffee, as well as her own order of a chocolate croissant and an orange juice to go.

"That will be ten dollars, please," the girl behind the counter replied.

Hope handed over the money.

"Thank you! Give me two minutes and I'll have that order right out for you," the girl said with a smile.

Hope smiled in return. "Thank you." She then turned around and saw Aiden sitting at a table just a few feet away from her. Their eyes met.

With a sigh, she headed over to him. "Hello, Aiden. How are you feeling today?" She knew she shouldn't have even bothered, but the parent inside of her, especially the parent that had lost a child, just couldn't resist at least checking on him. She knew the pain he must be carrying inside.

"Hey, Hope," Aiden said quietly. "I'm doing as good as can be expected I suppose. I miss Chase every day, but I know he wouldn't wat me to wallow in self-pity."

"Maybe not, but that doesn't mean you can just turn off your sadness like a light switch," Hope said gently. She was going to place a hand over his shoulder but thought better of it.

Aiden sighed, and shook his head. "No, it doesn't," he agreed. He then saw the twins and smiled. "I take it these are the twins!"

Hope nodded. "RJ and Faith. RJ is short for Rafe junior."

"Well, they are both adorable." Aiden put his finger out, and Faith grabbed right onto it. He smiled. "She's got your beautiful eyes."

Hope blushed, and pushed some hair behind her ear. "Thanks. Rafe and I think that Faith looks like me and RJ looks like him."

Aiden felt his heart sink a little. "Yeah, I can see it," he agreed. He gently pulled his finger away, then turned his attention to RJ. "At least RJ doesn't seem to have Rafe's thick eyebrows," he joked.

Hope laughed, then covered her mouth. "That's not nice. I shouldn't have laughed."

"Well, it's true," Aide said with a shrug.

A smirk started to play at the corner of Hope's mouth, but she forced herself to stop smirking. She cleared her throat. "So, what are you up to today?"

"Just getting a quick breakfast before heading out to look at buildings for my new practice. There's one on Clinton Street that I think I'm going to check out first," Aiden told her.

Hope raised an eyebrow. "That building next to the old Factory?"

Aiden nodded. "That would be the one!"

Hope shook her head. "No, don't go to that one. Trust me. The owner of the building is shady and it is in a very sketchy neighborhood. She has a rap sheet a mile long. I'm a cop and I still honestly don't know how she's not in prison."

Aiden nodded. "Thanks for the tip! Good to know. I guess I'll be bypassing that one. Oh well, at least it's one less building I have to decide upon."

"What other options do you have?" Hope asked.

Aiden looked on his tablet again. "There's a nice looking building on 504 Water Crest Drive, and a couple on Burbank Street and Clemmons Lane."

"I'm not sure about Clemmons or Burbank, but Water Crest is a really nice building. I used to go there for Dental Work until my dentist retired and closed down the business," Hope replied.

"I'll definitely take a look at that one then. Thanks for the tip," Aiden said.

His breakfast order arrived then. He thanked the waitress and then the waitress left.

Hope smirked. "I see you still like those chocolate croissants I got you hooked on."

Aiden nodded. "They're delicious!"

"See?" Hope asked. I told you." She then spotted the bacon. "I didn't know they had bacon as a side here."

"I didn't either. I saw it on the menu just today. Maybe it's something new they added. Do you want a piece? I won't eat all of this." Aiden held out the small paper tub of bacon to her.

"I shouldn't…" Hope said.

"Ah, one piece isn't going to hurt you!" Aiden said.

Hope grinned and quickly took a slice. "Thank you."

"You're welcome!" Aiden said.

Hope closed her eyes as she savored the bacon. "Mm… So good! If it wouldn't clog my arteries and make me fat, I swear I could eat bacon and nothing but bacon for the rest of my life."

"We really would be what we ate if all we ate is bacon. We'd be fat pigs!" Aiden joked. He made a snorting sound, which in turn made both twins start to giggle.

This of course made Hope and Aiden laugh.

Suddenly, Rafe came over, loudly clearing his throat. "What's going on here?" he asked, giving Aiden the death stare.

"Nothing is going on. I ran into Aiden and we got to talking about bacon. Aiden said that if we ate nothing but bacon we'd actually become what we ate—fat pigs. He snorted and it made the twins both giggle," Hope explained.

Aiden snorted again, which caused the twins to giggle again.

Again, Hope and Aiden laughed.

Rafe didn't laugh.

Hope cleared her throat awkwardly. "I wonder where my food is. The waitress said it would only be two minutes. It's been longer than that!"

Rafe ignored her, and fixed his angry glare on Aiden. "You shouldn't be talking to her, and I don't want you around my twins. Don't you think you've interfered with our lives enough already?"

"Rafe, stop it!" Hope scolded. "He was here first. We were just having friendly conversation while I waited for our food to be ready."

Just then, the waitress came over with Hope's to-go bag and two coffees. "Here's your order. The coffee with the cream and two sugars in the one in my right hand. I'm so sorry it took longer than I said it would. I didn't realize the pot was out of coffee. I had to wait for another pot to brew."

Hope took a coffee and her bag. "Thank you. No problem. At least it's fresh, right?"

The waitress smiled. "Right!"

Rafe thanked the waitress as he took his coffee from her, though his expression was still sour.

The waitress seemed to sense the tenseness, and after a quick, "Have a nice day," she took off.

"Well, we better get going. The babysitter will be waiting for us in the park," Hope said to Aiden.

"Have a good day," Aiden said to her, choosing to ignore Rafe all together.

"Thanks. You too! And good luck on finding the right building!" Hope said.

"Thank you. I appreciate it," Aiden said with a polite nod and a smile.

"You stay away from her and my family. Do you hear me?" Rafe warned Aiden with a look to kill.

"Whatever you say," Aiden said with a smirk. Rafe didn't scare him.

Rafe looked ready to throttle him.

"Rafe! Let's go. _Now_ ," Hope said, giving him a warning look.

Rafe shot Aiden one last warning look of his own, then took off with Hope. "I don't know why you even talk to that scumbag. Don't encourage him!" he said to Hope as they left toward the park.

"I'm not encouraging him. He was sitting right there and saw me. It would have been rude to just ignore him," Hope replied.

"Are you kidding me? After all he did to you? No it wouldn't!" Rafe insisted.

They then disappeared out of earshot.

Aiden rolled his eyes. Even after two years, he saw that Rafe was still a bossy cad. He supposed some things never changed.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

Hope and Rafe kept the peace until the twins were off with the babysitter, but on their way to work, their argument started back up again.

"I don't appreciate you telling me who I can and cannot talk to," Hope said coldly.

"I'm sorry, but when it comes to Aiden Jennings, your judgment can't be trusted," Rafe replied.

Hope whipped around to face him. "Excuse me? I think I can judge better than you can who I should and should not talk to, thank you!"

Rafe held up his hands as if in defense. "I'll I meant was that Aiden has a way of manipulating you and getting under your skin. You always want to see the best in people even when there is no 'best' to see. I know your compassion for him over him having lost his son is clouding your judgment. You can't see that he is using his son's death to try to get you back!" Rafe insisted.

Hope shook her head and crossed her arms over her chest. "I ran into him both times. It's not like I am some place and he shows up. Both times I've ran into him, he had been there first! He's also told me that he knows that you and I are happily married, and he knows now that it is over between him and me."

"Of course he's going to say that to gain your trust! Can't you see he's doing it to you all over again, Hope? He's reeling you in, and then once he has your trust again, he's going to pounce. Then he will hurt you all over again. Maybe this time it will be even worse than before," Rafe insisted.

Hope looked hurt. "You should learn to trust me more."

"Hey. Listen…" Rafe said quietly. He took Hope's hands in his own, and looked her in the eyes. "I do trust you, all right? I just want you to be careful when it comes to Aiden."

"I already said I would," Hope said, gently pulling her hands away from his. "Trust me; I haven't forgotten all the horrible things he did to me."

Rafe nodded. "Good!" he smiled. "Now can we please get to work so that we can enjoy our breakfast before it gets cold?"

Hope smiled weakly. "Sure."

They walked the rest of the way to work with their arms around each other.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

Aiden was about to leave when suddenly, Amy showed up.

She smiled big at him. "Hey, you! Back so soon?"

He grinned. "Hello! Yeah, I can't beat the location. It's extremely close to where I'm staying. Also, the food is quick and delicious."

She pouted. "Aw, and here I thought you came back for me," she teased.

Aiden blushed, a smile creeping over his face. _Should I just ask her out already?_ he asked himself.

Suddenly, the song that was coming over the Town Square's speaker switched to a song that Aiden recognized oh so well. It was Chase's favorite Blink 182 song.

Aiden looked up Heavenward. _All right, I hear ya, Chase. Loud and clear._ He back turned to Amy. "I don't usually do this. I don't even know if you're single, but would you be interested in going out with me?" He blushed. He didn't know why asking Amy out was so embarrassing to him, but it was.

Amy grinned. "It just so happens. I _am_ single." She giggled. "Look at you, blushing up a storm!" She gently pinched his cheeks. "And those dimples! My gosh, you're adorable!"

Aiden bushed even more. It seemed odd to him that she was talking down to him—especially when she was a good ten years his senior. Still, it did feel kind of nice to have a pretty girl like her interested in him. He had felt so rejected after Hope had left him. Granted she had had every right to reject him, but still…

"I actually have to work tonight, but I can manage to get away tomorrow evening if you're free," she said.

Aiden grinned and nodded. "Tomorrow evening sounds perfect! How does five-o'clock sound?"

"Make it six. That way I'll have time to get ready after work," she said.

Aiden nodded. "Six it is! Where do you live? I'll pick you up."

"Here." Amy took out a waitress's pad and a pen from her apron and wrote down her info. She then ripped it off the pad and handed it to him. "Here you go, Cutie!" She kissed his cheek. "I'll be looking forward to our first date!" She wined at him and smiled, then headed back to work.

Aiden looked at the pad of paper that not only held her name, number, and address, but also a winky face, and a drawing of a pair of lips with the word _Muah!_ over it.

He shook his head and chuckled to himself as he folded the paper up and stuffed it into his pants pocket.

He smiled as he headed to his car. Asking Amy out didn't leave him feeling as bad as he had thought it would!

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

Later that night, Aiden was on his way to the cemetery. He wanted to tell Chase that his date was all set with Amy, but first, he paused in the park on his way to the cemetery. He just had one last call to make.

"Yes, this is Aiden Jennings. I just want to make reservations for two tomorrow night at six-thirty. Do you have anything private, like maybe a corner table? You do? That would be excellent if you could reserve that for us. Thank you. I'd like to have a bottle of your best wine on the table too if I could. It's for a very special lady friend of mine." Aiden smiled. In a way, it kind of felt good to get back on the horse. It had been easier than he thought! "I'm starting over," he said, even though he knew the maître D' couldn't care less. "That's why I want it to be so special and private, so we can really get to know each other better…I greatly appreciate it. Thank you." Aiden hung up the phone and smiled to himself. "She'll be knocked right off her feet!" he said to himself.

Little did Aiden know, Rafe was right behind him and had heard Aiden's whole side of the conversation.

"You son of a bitch!" Rafe snapped.

Aiden was surprised, and had no time to react before Rafe grabbed him by the shoulder from behind, whipped him around, and punched him in the face, causing Aiden to fall backwards onto the ground.

Aiden rubbed his bloody mouth while looking up at Rafe in shock and confusion. "What the hell?" he asked.

Rafe looked down at him, his hands balled into fists at both sides. "I _knew_ you were after Hope!" he snapped, looking at Aiden like he was ready to kill him. "And now you're going to pay."

Aiden looked at Rafe in disbelief; not knowing how to react to that.


	4. S1E4

_**This Love…**_

 _ **Season 1 Episode 4: First Date**_

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Aiden asked, looking around for his phone.

"Don't you dare play stupid with me!" Rafe said, clenching his fists and looking ready for another go at Aiden. I just heard you making plans for another date with Hope! You're sick and twisted, you know that? You have nothing left to blackmail her with. If you actually think she'd go back to you, you're even more delusional than I thought!"

"Rafe! What in the world is going on?" Hope asked, entering the park with the twins in their double stroller. She looked to see Aiden sitting on the ground, his mouth bleeding. "Aiden, what happened?"

Aiden glared at Rafe. "Your husband's what happened! I was on the phone making special plans for a date tonight, and he pummeled me out of nowhere!"

Rafe looked at Hope. "He was making plans for a romantic and private date with you tonight."

Hope scrunched her eyebrows in confusion. "What?" She looked At Aiden. "Aiden, why would you be doing that?" She looked a little scared.

Aiden rolled his eyes. He found his phone, then stood up, and wiped his pants off. "I was not making a date to go out with you. Don't be ridiculous! Believe it or not, I found another woman—this one actually being interested in me. My plans were made for her; not you." He glared at Rafe.

Rafe crossed his arms over his chest. He wasn't buying it. "You told whomever you were on the phone with that you were starting over."

Aiden nodded. "Yeah, I am starting over by dating someone else!"

Rafe snorted. "Who would want to go out with _you_?"

Aiden, scowled. "Not that it's any of your business, but I am going with the owner of the Town Square Café. I met her just from being a customer there. She waited on me one night. She was attracted to me, I was attracted to her; you get the picture. Then again, maybe you don't. I know you're a little dimwitted. Do you need me to explain it to you again, only this time slower?"

Rafe started to walk toward Aiden again, fists ready for a fight.

Aiden laughed, palms up, and stepped back as Hope held Rafe back. "Relax! I was only joking. I think I have the right to one dig at you seeing as you just punched me out—under false pretenses at that!"

"Rafe, we we're in front of the twins. Do not do this right now." Hope glared Rafe as she scolded him. She then glared at Aiden too. "Either of you!"

Aiden held up his hands again, and looked her in the eyes. "Hey, I was minding my own business, making plans to move on. Isn't moving on what you want me to do? Your husband here is the one who punched me out simply because he jumped to the wrong conclusions. He shouldn't have been listening to my private conversation anyway."

Rafe glared at him.

Hope saw the look on Rafe's face and placed a hand over his shoulder. " **Don't**!" she said firmly. She turned to Aiden. "Rafe should not have punched you, but when you make a call in a public place, people are going to overhear your conversation. You can't get on him for that!"

Aiden shrugged. "Maybe not, but he still had no right to punch me. As a cop he should know better. You know, this is the second time he has lost his temper and punched me. You would think by now he'd learn to get his temper under control."

"If the twins weren't here, I'd do it again," Rafe said coldly.

Hope shot Rafe a look and swatted him. "Stop that! Aiden is right about that. You're a cop! Do you want to lose your badge? Do you know how lucky we were to even get our jobs back after the stuff we've both done in the past? You with your cover ups and me with…murdering Stefano?"

"I can't help it!" Rafe said. He glared at Aiden. "He just makes me so mad!"

Aiden rolled his eyes. "Yeah, well the feeling's mutual, Buddy. I could press charges, you know."

Hope reached into her purse and took out a tissue. She handed it to Aiden. "Put that on your lip. You need pressure to stop the bleeding."

"Thanks," Aiden said, doing as told.

"Please don't press charges, Aiden. I know what Rafe did was wrong. I'm sorry. He's just very protective of me," Hope said softly.

Rafe looked at her. "Excuse me, but I don't need you apologizing for me or making excuses. I'm not five years old!"

Hope glared at him. "Then stop acting like you are!"

Rafe looked hurt.

"I'm not going to press charges. I wouldn't do that to the twins," Aiden said softly.

Hope weakly smiled. "Thank you," she said, placing a hand over his shoulder.

Aiden looked at her hand, and she quickly removed it, nervously wiping it against the side of her skinny jeans.

Rafe rolled his eyes. "How noble of you."

"Rafe, stop it! If you don't want me apologizing for you, then you do it yourself!" Hope snapped.

Rafe sneered at Aiden. "I'm sorry," he said. "I just find it hard to believe that any woman would want trash like you."

"Rafe…" Hope warned.

Aiden shook his head. "That's okay. It's fine. After all, I made a dig at _him_ , right? We hate each other. We always will. Shooting digs at each other is just what we do. I'm going to go see Chase now. You two have a nice evening." He then turned and headed toward the cemetery.

"Son of a bitch!" Rafe muttered to himself as he watched Aiden disappear into the cemetery. He wished Aiden could disappear period.

"Rafe, you have got to stop being so paranoid about Aiden! More importantly, you have got to learn to control your temper! One of these days he's going to run out of patience and press charges against you," Hope scolded.

Rafe turned his attention to her. "He's not refraining from pressing charges because of the twins. He's doing it to impress you!"

Hope rolled her eyes. "Rafe, please don't start this again. Heck, even if he was, who cares? The bottom line is you're not going to have to pay for punching him out."

"You didn't have to stick up for him over me you know. You played right into his pocket. And I still don't believe he was making plans to go out with the owner of the Town Square Café." Rafe rolled his eyes. "Please!"

"I stick up for whomever is in the right, and in this case it was him. You can't just go punching him every time he upsets you!" Hope chastised.

Rafe shrugged. "Why not?"

Hope rolled her eyes. "For one, it's barbaric. For two, you're a cop and I want you to lead a good example for our twins."

Rafe sighed. "Fine. I'm sorry. I'll try to control myself better."

Hope raised an eyebrow. "And to not jump to conclusions?"

"I can't make any promises," Rafe grumbled, taking the stroller and rolling it on ahead.

Hope rolled her eyes, then ran to catch up with him.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

"Hello again, Son," Aiden said as he dropped by Chase's grave on the way to pick up Amy. He held two bouquets in his hands. One held red roses. The other held forget-me-nots. He placed the forget-me-nots down onto Chase's grave. "Here you go. Sorry. I was going to get them yesterday but figured I'd just wait until I got Amy's roses. Forget-Me-Nots aren't too girly, right? Plus they're blue. You always loved blue." Aiden took a deep breath and slowly let it out. "Do you think she'll like these?" He held up the red roses. "I know most all women, if not all women, love roses. And I figured red was a color everyone likes. I'm really nervous about tonight. I'm just afraid I'll mess up somehow. It seems like I'm always messing up in relationships. I wasn't as good of a husband as I could have been to your mother, and with Hope…" Aiden looked down to the ground with shame. "Well, we both know what how I treated Hope. I know this is just a first date and all, but I want to do better with Amy. I want to be a guy she wants to date. Heck, who knows? I know it's way too early to tell, but maybe she could one day be my third and final wife. You think maybe? I wish she could have gotten to know you. She'd love you. I know she would." Aiden looked at his watch. "Well, I guess I better head over there so I'm not late. What kind of impression would that make on her if I was late for my first date, right?" Aiden smiled weakly. "I love you, Son." He gently pat the top of Chase's grave. "I'll let you know how things go. Wish me luck!" Aiden then took off, ready or not, for his date.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

Aiden rang the doorbell at Amy's condo. Her condo was at the end of the hallway, and there was a full-length mirror against the end wall that he checked himself of in as he waited for her to answer.

She smoothed his hair back with his hands and made sure that his black dress pants still had the crease in them. They did. He also wore the matching black suit jacket. His black patent leather dress shoes were still shiny and un-scuffed. His royal purple socks matched his royal purple dress shirt, and his silver tie looked nice against the shirt.

Just then, the door opened.

Amy giggled. "Are you checking yourself out?"

Aiden blushed, and turned to face her. "Sorry. I just wanted to make sure I didn't look like, as the kids nowadays say, 'a hot mess' for our date tonight."

Amy smirked. "You only look like half of a hot mess, and I don't mean the 'mess' part; just the hot part." She winked and smiled at him.

Again, Aiden blushed. He didn't know why she made him blush so much. He usually wasn't a blusher. "You look pretty hot yourself tonight," he told her.

She smiled. "Why thank you!" She twirled around, giving him a 360 degree view of her hot pink lace dress. She also wore strappy metallic gold high-heels. She didn't appear to be wearing any tights, but her legs still looked smooth and flawless. Her lips were a bright pink like her dress. "I'm glad you like it." She winked at him again, and clutched her metallic gold clutch purse close to her chest. "So where are you taking me?"

"I'm taking you to Chez Rouge. I figured it would be nice for us to be able to talk, and to get to know each other," he said.

"Oo, that sounds wonderful! So fancy!" She latched onto his arm as they waited for the elevator. "And what about afterwards?"

"I looked up the movie times. There are a few movies that really look good," Aiden told her. He allowed her to step into the now opened elevator first, then he stepped in after her.

"A movie?" Amy asked as the doors closed in front of them.

"Yeah, if that's okay with you," Aiden told her. "I just figured we could do the typical dinner and a movie for our first date."

"I think it's just an excuse so you can cuddle up next to me in the dark," Amy said, latching onto his arm again, and looking up at him with her head resting against his shoulder.

He blushed yet again. "N-N-No… I just meant—"

Amy laughed. "Will you relax?" She playfully swatted his chest. "I was just messing with you. Lighten up! There's no reason to be nervous. We're just going on a date like a couple of adults."

Aiden relaxed a little, feeling kind of silly. _Stop acting like a teenager! You've been on several dates before. This one is no different. Now stop acting like you did in Junior High, and start acting like the adult you are!_ He quietly chastised himself.

The doors opened, and he headed out with Amy. "You really do look beautiful tonight. Not that it surprises me. You're so beautiful, I think it's impossible for you to _not_ look beautiful," he said to her. He kissed her hand.

It was Amy's turn to blush this time. "Looks like I found myself a real charmer. I like it!" She grinned.

Aiden grinned too, and opened the passenger door for her.

"And not only that, but you're a gentleman too! Who says chivalry is dead?" she asked happily.

He smiled at her. "I'm just treating the princess like the princess she is," he said.

"Oh yeah, first date and I can already tell you're a keeper!" she said.

Aiden grinned before shutting her door. "Now you're getting it," he said to himself as he headed to the driver's side. Now if he could keep it up for the rest of the date, he'd be all set!

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

"Mm! The food here is so good! Also, it feels nice to not only not have to be the one serving, but to be able to sit down and relax with a handsome man at a fancy restaurant as well," Amy said.

Aiden looked around. "A handsome man? Where? Who?"

Amy laughed. "Oh, stop it! You're handsome and you know it!"

He grinned. "I'm sure not everyone thinks so."

"Well, if they don't, they're either blind or idiots," Amy said simply.

"Thank you for saying that," Aiden replied. He really liked Amy. She was a sweetheart. He wasn't quite feeling the butterflies that Hope always gave him, but he would give it time. After all, this was only their first date.

They finished their meals.

"Would you like dessert?" Aiden asked her. They have a really good chocolate cake here."

Amy shook her head. "I'm one of the rare people who don't like chocolate!" She then got the flirty look in her eyes again as she kicked off a shoe and seductively slipped her foot under his pant leg, moving it slowly up and down his leg. "There are other kind of desserts I could go for though," she purred.

Aiden swallowed hard. _Wow, this girl moves fast!_ he thought. It was a little _too_ fast for his taste.

He stood up, and extended his hand to her. "Care to dance?"

She looked a little put off, but quickly recovered. She grinned. "Sure! Why not? I love to dance!" She put her shoe back on, then took his hand, letting him help her up and lead her out onto the dance floor.

They began to slow dance.

Amy put her hands over his buns and squeezed hard. "Oops!" she teased. "Did I miss your lower back?"

"Actually, your hands are supposed to be over my shoulders," he corrected her, feeling his face flush yet again. What was it with this girl moving so fast? he wondered.

"I know. I just prefer to be the one to lead," she said with a wink, moving his arms so that they were draped over her shoulders instead of around her waist.

Aiden smiled weakly. He was beginning to see that Amy was a little eccentric. It was okay though. In a strange way, he found her oddness fun. It was a change from the usual women he had dated.

They danced to a few songs, then decided to head out and see the movie. Aiden was almost glad it was time to see a movie. At least now he didn't have to talk. After all, sometimes it was nice simply just being with someone—no words needed. He and Hope had had moments like that…

He shook Hope from his mind, and put his mind back on Amy and the movie they were headed to see.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

They had agreed upon what movie to see, and after purchasing their popcorn, sodas, and non-chocolate candy, they took their seats. Amy, of course, wanted to sit in the very back.

All throughout the move, Amy kept trying to grope him. Aiden felt as if he were being sexually assaulted! He knew Amy was just being forward, but it made him really uncomfortable. It got so bad that, at one point, he eventually moved a chair down and set his suit jacket on the chair between him and Amy to give her the hint to not sit there.

After the movie, as they exited the theater, Amy gently touched is shoulder. "Did I do something wrong?"

"Amy, look. I'm sorry. I just don't think it's going to work out between us. You are a very nice girl and extremely beautiful, but...I think you're looking for a relationship that is a bit faster moving than I am ready for right now," Aiden said gently. "I'm sorry if I came off as a jerk in the theater. I wasn't trying to hurt your feelings. I just didn't feel comfortable with all the groping. Again, I'm sorry."

Amy shook her head. "I'm the one who's sorry. I shouldn't have tried moving too fast. I'm used to having moved fast in past relationships. I haven't exactly had a great track record with guys. Most of the guys I've dated had wanted to move fast. I've even had some men dump me for not moving fast enough for their taste. I really like you and I guess I was just afraid of losing you if I went too slowly. Can you forgive me?"

Aiden smiled. "Of course I can. I promise I'm not like any of those jerks. I had a bad breakup last relationship, and I just want to take things slow this time around."

"You've already proven you're not like those other guys," Amy said. She smiled. "And you know what?"

Aiden smiled too. "What?"

"I think taking it slow sounds real nice," Amy said, taking his hand.

He brought her hand to his lips. "Thank you for understanding."

"Of course!" Amy said. She yawned. "Not to sound like a party-pooper, but I have to be at the café early tomorrow. I'm ready to go home to bed—by myself to sleep!" she quickly added with a chuckle.

Aiden laughed too. "Let's get you home then."

"Thanks!" she said.

He then drove her home and walked her to her condo. He did give her a sweet goodnight kiss on the lips. It was nothing too passionate, but it made them both smile nonetheless.

"Call me soon?" she asked.

He nodded. "Definitely!"

"Goodnight," she said with a smile as she opened her door.

"Goodnight," he said, smiling back.

She then entered her condo and shut and locked the door behind her.

Aiden then headed for home. He had really enjoyed tonight once they had gotten past the groping incident. And who knew? Maybe she _would_ be the new "one".

With a smile, he headed onto the elevator. It was late. He'd tell Chase about his date tomorrow instead of tonight.


	5. S1E5

_**This Love…**_

 _ **Season 1 Episode 5: Hey Jealousy**_

It was just under a month later. Aiden had been dating Amy for almost a month. They were taking their time, just getting to know each other. He had even brought Amy to Chase's grave. He had been worried that she would think it was weird—him talking to his son as if he were still alive, but she didn't. In fact, she had even introduced herself to Chase, and she also had talked with him like he was alive. It made Aiden appreciate her even more. Even so, he didn't really feel like he was in love with her just yet. He supposed that is why they hadn't consummated their relationship yet. He knew she really wanted to, but he just wasn't ready yet. He knew it was usually the woman that held off, but in his case, he didn't care if he seemed unmanly. He didn't like to sleep with someone just because he was dating them. He wanted to be in love with them. He just wasn't there yet.

Anyway, it was the 4th of July, and he had a date with Amy to go to the Town Square's big barbeque bash. The venders were closed for the night, but Mayor Carver had allowed for everyone to bring a dish to pass so that the town could have a Town Square picnic and socialize together. Fireworks would be set off at the park once it got dark.

For the first time in his life, Aiden was eager to see Rafe and Hope. He was eager to show them both that he wasn't some loser who couldn't get another woman in his life. He may have lied in the past, but this time, he wasn't lying. In fact, he was through with lying.

He'd show them he had a beautiful woman who enjoyed being with him. He'd show them both!

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

"I'm really excited for this barbeque! The 4th of July is one of my favorite holidays!" Amy said as she and Aiden walked hand-in-hand into the party.

"Why's that?" Aiden asked with a grin.

"I love the food, for starters. There is always a variety of things to eat. There are hamburgers hot dogs, barbeque chicken, deviled eggs—she held up the giant plate of devilled eggs se had brought to share—you name it! Then there's the fireworks. Gosh I love fireworks! There is just something about them that is so beautiful and magical," Amy said, staring off into the sky dreamily as if imagining the fireworks were currently going off.

Aiden squeezed her hand. "Well, they will be even more special tonight with you by my side."

Amy looked at him, her eyes filled with love for him. "Likewise." She set the deviled eggs down on the food table with the rest of the food then took his face between her hands and softly and sensually kissed his lips.

Aiden softly moaned, and hungrily kissed her back, his hands placed around her waist. She was an amazing kisser. He would definitely give her that!

They were interrupted by the sound of a throat being cleared.

They broke the kiss, and looked toward the direction of the throat-clearer. It was Rafe.

"Well, what do you know? You were telling the truth after all," Rafe said, his arms crossed over his chest.

"Hello, Rafe. I wish I could say it's good to see you, but it's not. Are you stalking me?" Aiden asked smartly.

Rafe narrowed his eyes at him. "You would know all about stalking, wouldn't you?"

"No, Rafe, I wouldn't," Aiden said angrily. He was tired of Rafe always placing himself in other people's business—especially his. It was getting old, and fast at that!

"What's going on over here?" Hope asked softly. She came over with the twins in their stroller.

"Rafe is harassing me yet again when all I am doing, is trying to enjoy the barbeque with my girlfriend," Aiden said simply.

"You shouldn't even be here! No one in Salem even likes you," Rafe said coldly to Aiden.

"Hey! Speak for yourself, you cad!" Amy said, crossing her arms over her chest and tapping her foot. She shot Rafe the death look.

Aiden couldn't help but smirk. Amy surprised him more and more every day. He felt a new wave of adoration for her.

Rafe smirked, and turned his attention to Amy. "You know he's just using you to get to her, don't you?" He nodded toward Hope. "He was so obsessed with her that he blackmailed her into dating him even though she no longer loved him and she wanted to be with me. Oh, and did he tell you about how he tried to kill her for the insurance money?"

"Rafe, stop it," Hope said quietly as she latched onto Rafe's arm. "Don't cause a scene."

"What's he talking about, tried to kill you?" Amy asked Hope.

Hope shook her head. "It's a long story. He planned to kill me, but couldn't go through it at the end. He was kidnapped, and an imposter took his place. It was the imposter that tried to kill me." She sighed. "It sounds like a soap opera; I know." She then looked at Aiden. "You didn't already tell her all this?"

Aiden looked to the ground in shame. "It's not exactly something I wanted to tell her in our first month of dating." He then turned to Amy. "I'm sorry. I didn't want to scare you away. I can tell you everything now, if you'd like."

Amy nodded. "I think you better," she said quietly. She turned to Hope. "Wait, aren't you that lady who killed that Stefano guy?"

Hope hesitated. She then slowly nodded. "Yes."

Amy laughed. "You can't really be all that angry with Aiden for thinking about killing you then. He couldn't go through with a murder, but you could."

"Why don't you just leave? Both of you?" Rafe asked them. "Tonight isn't the time for scenes."

Amy stomped her foot. "Excuse me? I _know_ you didn't just accuse us of causing a scene when you're the one who came up to us and tried to start something! If anyone should leave for trying to cause a scene, it's _you_ , you big dumb baboon!"

Aiden laughed out loud.

"All right, I think it's time to go see if the barbeque chicken is ready yet!" Hope said, taking Rafe by the shoulder and leading him to the stroller. "Here. Take the twins. It will help you calm down."

Rafe shot Amy a look to kill. He looked like he wanted to say something, but Hope continued to push him. "Give the twins a kiss. That will calm you down."

Rafe looked at her like he wanted to protest, but then he sighed, and did as told.

The twins smiled, and it made him smile too. Like Hope said, it had calmed him down.

"Please enjoy the rest of the barbeque," Hope said to Aiden and Amy, trying to keep the peace.

"Thanks. You too," Aiden said.

Amy just stared blankly at Hope, her arms crossed over her chest.

Hope pushed some hair behind her ear and gave Aiden what looked like an apologetic look, then she took off with Rafe.

"The nerve of the both of them!" Amy said. She then turned to Aiden. "I'm going to let you explain before I judge you. Coming from that buffoon, I'm sure he over exaggerated, or at least left a big chunk of the story out. Let's go sit down on a bench in the park. You can tell me what happened, and then after that, I'll decide if I want to eat dinner with you or not."

Aiden nodded. "Fair enough. Let's go."

So, together they headed into the park.

Aiden could kill Rafe for what he had just done! It hadn't been enough to take Hope from him, he had to try to turn Amy away from him as well? Oh how he hate that guy! He hoped Amy would forgive him after he explained everything. Even though he wasn't quite sure if he loved Amy or not, he still wasn't ready to lose someone else special in his life.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

"And then I thought we could take the twins bungee jumping. I think they'd really get a kick out of hanging by their heels and snapping upward," Rafe said.

"Yeah, sounds fun," Hope agreed on autopilot as she picked at her barbecue chicken with her fork. She couldn't stop thinking about Aiden or Amy. She didn't know why, but she had felt kind of a sting, seeing Aiden with another woman. She was glad he was moving on. After all, it would take the attention off of her. Still… She supposed it made her feel just a little sad. Even though it had been over for quite a while, it really was confirmation that the Aiden chapter of her life was over. She had moved on, and now he had too.

"And then we can take them sky diving. We can get them little baby parachutes. We'll just float over to them in our chutes and pull the cord for them," Rafe continued.

"Uh huh! Sounds fun," Hope said; still not paying any attention to what Rafe was saying.

" **Hope**!" Rafe said, loudly this time.

Hope snapped from her thoughts. She looked up at Rafe. "Hm?"

"I've been trying to get your attention for the last minute!" he said.

"I was paying attention," Hope lied.

Rafe raised an eyebrow. "Really? So you actually think it's a good idea to take the twins bungee jumping and sky diving?"

Hope tried to save face. "Yeah, I think they'd have fun! We can't take them though. I'm sure there is an age requirement on those activities."

Rafe gave her a look.

She smirked. "Not buying it?"

He shook his head and crossed his arms over his chest. "Not even for a second!"

"I'm sorry. I guess that encounter with Amy and Aiden shook me," Hope admitted.

"Why?" Rafe asked, going back to eating his chicken.

"Well…" Hope knew better than to tell him that it felt weird seeing Aiden move on with another woman. He would take it the wrong way, another argument would arise, and then he'd probably go after Aiden again. It was definitely not a good idea. "It's what Amy said. She said that I can't be angry with Aiden when he couldn't even kill me. I'm the only murderer here." It wasn't a lie. That had bothered her too. Maybe there was some truth to what Amy had said, she figured.

"Hey, listen to me." Rafe placed a hand over Hope's arm. "Don't let what she said get to you, okay? What Aiden planned to do to you and what you did to Stefano are two entirely different things! You killed a man who had terrorized you and your family for years. You weren't in your right mind either. You had just lost the love of your life. You weren't in a good place. Aiden, however, planned to kill the woman who did nothing but love and trust him. For what? Some money to pay off a gambling debt? Yes, he backed out, but the fact that he had even planned to kill you, the woman he loved, the woman he had just made love to—on your wedding night even… There's just no excuse!"

"But he couldn't go through with it. Aiden was a victim of Stefano and Andre too, you know. They did threaten to kill Chase if he didn't do their bidding," Hope reminded him.

Rafe shook his head. "That's still no excuse! He still continued to work with Andre even after that. Also, he could have gone to you. You're a cop for goodness sake! But no. He would rather have killed you than trusted you."

Hope shook her head. "I don't know. I just keep thinking that my mind wasn't in the right place when I killed Stefano. Aiden's wasn't really either when he agreed to kill me. I'm sure the thought of his son's life being taken had the same effect on him as losing Bo had on me. And in the end, despite the risk to his son's life, he still couldn't get himself to kill me. Then he fought _so_ hard to get back to me."

"Hope, please tell me you're not regretting leaving him. And please tell me you don't regret this life we've built together." Rafe placed his hand over Hope's hand. He sounded a little scared.

Hope looked him in the eyes, and her expression softened. "Of course not! Aiden and I clearly weren't meant to be. You can't have a relationship if there's no trust. I can't trust Aiden."

Rafe shook his head. "Don't forget he tried to blackmail you. The guy is clearly sick in the head. I don't care if he eventually came to his senses. I can't forget how he hurt you time and time again!"

"Rafe, relax!" Hope placed both of her hands over his hands and gently rubbed them. "I'm not regretting leaving Aiden—or being with you. Unlike Aiden, you have proven time and time again that you can be trusted. Over and over again you've protected me, while over and over again Aiden hurt me." Hope kissed his hands. "Trust me when I tell you I love you so much, and you're the one I want to be with; the _only_ one I want to be with!"

Rafe smiled at her and she smiled back.

"Okay," he said. "I trust you always."

"And I trust _you_ always," Hope said.

They leaned over and kissed.

Hope then went back to her chicken. "This really is good. Who knew JJ could grill?"

Rafe grinned. "I know, right?"

They enjoyed the rest of their dinner together, no more negativity left on their minds.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

Aiden finished explaining everything that had happened. Amy had listened as he told her. Now, he finished the story, and waited nervously for her response.

Amy took his hands in her own. "I don't condone a hundred percent what you did. I think you should have told Hope right from the beginning what was going on. I mean, I know you were afraid Andre and Stefano would find out you told her, and then they would kill Chase. Still… You should have trusted her. After all, if you can't trust the woman you were going to marry, then who could you trust? You were really willing to have killed her?"

Aiden stared at his lap, and shook his head. "Trust me, even after a couple years of therapy, I still beat myself up over that every day! One day when you have kids, you'll understand the lengths you will go through to protect them. The threat to Chase's life did things to my head. It's still no excuse, I know, but… It is what it is, and I regret my decision every day of my life." He finally had the courage to look from his lap to her eyes. "So, do you still want to be with me or do you think I'm a monster and want nothing more to do with me?"

Amy smiled weakly at him and gently squeezed his hand. "Of course I don't think you're a monster! I might have had a little more trouble accepting it if you had actually tried to kill her, but you didn't. Your son's life was in danger, but you still couldn't go through with it. You still couldn't kill the love of your life. Then you fought hard to get back to her… I think you're just a man who was desperate to save his son. You were a little bit weak. I hope you don't mind me saying that."

Aiden shook his head. "Not at all! I was a lot bit weak actually!"

Amy smiled. "Don't beat yourself up over it. What's done is done and you're not that person any longer."

"So, you won't have any problems trusting me after you found all this out?" Aiden asked her.

Again, she smiled. She shook her head. "Not at all!" She then smirked. "Anyway, your son is dead now, so I don't have to worry about you trying to kill me to protect his life, right?" She giggled.

Aiden's mouth dropped open. He was literally stunned speechless. He had only seen people stunned speechless in television and movies. But here he was; actually stunned speechless.

Amy realized what she had said, and quickly covered her mouth. "I am _so_ sorry! Oh, Aiden, I apologize! That was a stupid, stupid thing for me to say! You know how some people have Tourette's and can't help what they say?"

Aiden nodded; still not sure what to say.

"Yeah, I don't have that, but still I find myself making highly inappropriate and unfunny jokes in order to try to lighten the mood. I really don't mean to sound like an uncaring witch. Can you ever forgive me? Please?" she asked. "Cuz I do care about Chase. I mean, I know I never met him, but I'm sad I didn't get to meet and know him. And I hate that he died, and—"

Aiden finally found his wording and cut her off. He smiled weakly, and gently rubbed her hand. "You know what? It's all right. Who couldn't use an ice breaker here and there, right? I know you didn't mean anything by it."

Amy hugged him in relief. "Thank you."

"So, what do you say?" Aiden asked after hugging her back. He stood up and extended his hand to her. "Will you have dinner with me?"

"That depends," Amy said.

Aiden raised an eyebrow. "On what?"

Amy smirked and let him help her up. "On whether or not you'll have dinner with _me_?"

Aiden laughed. "Come here, you! Of _course_ I'll have dinner with you!"

Amy grinned, and then he pulled her into a kiss.

They kissed, then headed with their arms around each other and smiles on their faces back to the party in the square.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

They had a nice dinner together, and once dinner and dessert was over, they mingled in the square until it was time to head over to the park for the fireworks.

As Aiden and Amy danced together, Aiden noticed that Hope was watching them from her seat on the stone ledge that outlined the flower bed. She had a twin in her arms as she fed it a bottle. Rafe sat beside her with the other twin, feeding it the other bottle.

"Even though that Rafe is a real jackass, and Hope's a bit of a hypocrite, I want to go over and apologize to them. I'm not a mean person, and I don't want to sink to their level," Amy said.

Aiden, his eyes still locked with Hope's, nodded. "All right. You really are a good person."

Amy kissed his cheek. "As are you, despite what those two would like to think. Come on!" She took his hand and led him over to Rafe and Hope.

She cleared her throat. "I just want to say that I am sorry for our argument." She turned to Rafe. "I'm sorry I called you all those names. It was immature of me."

Rafe shrugged. "It's fine. I'm sorry I told you to leave. I didn't have any right to tell you that. You have just as much right to be here as we do."

Amy nodded. "You're right; we do. Thank you for admitting that."

Aiden hid a smirk. He loved her sassiness!

Amy then turned to Hope. "And I'm sorry for what I said to you. What happened with Stefano or with you and Aiden for that matter, is in the past and it's none of my business. I am sorry for the loss of your first husband."

"It's all right. No worries! And thank you." Hope said softly. She smiled at them. "Did you enjoy your dinner and dessert?"

Amy nodded. "We did, thank you! I was really glad someone brought a cheesecake. Everything else was chocolate. I hate chocolate. Even as a kid, all my classmates thought I was weird for hating it and refusing to eat the chocolate birthday cupcakes that their parents would bring to school on their birthdays."

"I'm just the opposite. I love chocolate!" Hope said.

Amy shrugged. "Most people do. I'm just more of vanilla or cherry kind of person."

Aiden, feeling inspired by Amy, walked over to Rafe. "I know you and I don't get along," he began.

Rafe snorted. "That's an understatement!"

Aiden nodded. "But what do you say we call it a truce? We don't have to like each other, but we're both grown adults. Why don't we be civil to each other at least? I know you don't believe me, but I am not after Hope any more. I do not go after other men's wives—especially not when children are involved. I see no reason why we can't tolerate each other at the very least." He extended a hand to Rafe.

Rafe just stared at his hand. He didn't offer a hand in return. "Just stay out of my way and there won't be a problem," he said.

"The same goes to you!" Aiden said, loosening the collar of his shirt.

"Oh my gosh, your twins are so adorbs, by the way!" Amy said gently stroking the cheek of Faith, whom Aiden could now see was the twin that Hope was holding.

Hope smiled. "Thank you."

Amy then stroked little RJ's cheek. "So precious!" she said.

"Thanks," Rafe grunted.

They made small talk for a little bit more, then eventually, it was time to head over to the park for the fireworks.

Aiden and Amy said goodbye to Hope and Rafe, and then headed to the park hand-in-hand, separate from Rafe and Hope.

The fireworks began shortly after.

Together, Amy and Aiden stood with their arms around each other.

Amy kissed Aiden during the fireworks, and he hungrily kissed her back. He still didn't know if he was in love with her or not, but he did get a little flutter in his heart every time she kissed him.

Maybe it really _is_ , love, he thought as he kissed her, the fireworks going off around them.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

The fireworks ended up scaring the twins to tears, so Hope and Rafe headed out of the park, Hope with Faith in her arms, rocking her gently back and forth, and Rafe holding RJ close with one arm, and pushing the stroller with the other arm.

"I wish we could have found a sitter!" Rafe said.

"Me too," Hope replied. She then stopped short as she saw Aiden and Amy kissing passionately under the fireworks. Her heart sank a little, and she remembered how Aiden used to kiss _her_ like that. Her stomach churned a bit.

"Are you coming?" Rafe asked.

Hope shook from her trance. "Yes! Sorry." She hoped Rafe hadn't seen what she was staring at.

She quickly rushed to catch up with him, visions of Aiden and Amy kissing, still unwelcomingly filling her mind.


	6. S1E6

_**This Love…**_

 _ **Season 1 Episode 6: Goodnight Sweetheart**_

It was mid-July. Rafe was a half hour away, helping the Mount Vernon police department, who needed some extra men that day for to search for a missing person. Hope had decided to stay back since the twins needed her. Neither she nor Rafe could find a sitter. Hope didn't know what it was, but everyone and their cousin had something special going on whether it be a wedding, a funeral, a concert, or family member in town.

As she took the twins for a walk in the park, she saw Aiden and Amy walking hand-in-hand. She tried to turn the other way before they saw her, but it was too late.

Amy smiled at her and waved, then led Aiden over to her.

Hope sighed.

Aiden looked a little embarrassed to have been led over to her.

"Hello there! How are you?" Amy asked Hope, squeezing tightly Aiden's hand.

Hope pushed some hair behind her ear and smiled politely. "I'm doing all right. I'm just taking the twins for a walk in hopes of getting them to sleep. So far, it's a no go. I don't know why they won't sleep."

Amy smiled at the twins and gently stroked their cheeks simultaneously—hand per twin. "Well, at least they're not crying, right?" She looked up at Hope.

"Don't jinx it!" Hope joked.

"It's funny, we always seem to run into each other at the park or in the square," Aiden said.

Amy stood up. "Well, they are connected, and it's not like there is much else to do in this town. Don't get me wrong—I love Salem—I just have dreams to one day expand my business and run it in Chicago, or New York. Oo, or maybe even LA," she said, her eyes getting big with excitement. She grinned at Aiden. "And now that you have nothing holding you back here with your son dead and everything, you're free to come with me!" She grinned.

Hope gasped out loud.

Amy looked at her. "What?"

"That was kind of insensitive, what you just said, don't you think?" Hope asked her.

Amy scrunched her eyebrows in confusion. "What? That his son's dead?" She shrugged. "No biggie! Aiden totally gets my sense of humor! I didn't mean anything by it. Anyway, it's true; Chase is dead. Aiden knows that."

Hope felt herself getting angry. She didn't like when people made light of other people's children dying. "Please forgive me if I don't find any humor in his son dying!" She turned to Aiden. "Aiden, are you really okay with her joking like that?"

Aiden hesitated. "Yeah. I know she doesn't mean anything by it. She's just trying to lighten the mood so I feel better." He grinned, but Hope could tell it was put-on.

Amy latched on to Aiden's arm possessively, and shot Hope a look. "See? He gets me. You need to learn to lighten up and take a joke! Of course I'm not glad his son is dead. Sometimes you just have to laugh to keep from crying, you know?"

Hope nodded, but didn't say anything. She still didn't agree with Amy at all, but she didn't want to start a scene. It wasn't worth it.

"Anyway, after what Chase did to your daughter, I'd think you wouldn't care if he were dead," Amy said simply.

Hope felt her blood boiling up again, but, for the twins' sake, she stayed calm. "I detest what he did, but he was trying to change his life around. He didn't deserve to die," she said calmly.

"But apparently, old man Stefano _did_ , right?" Amy asked with a laugh.

Hope's face paled.

"Amy… Maybe it's best you just go to work. You don't want to be late, right?" Aiden asked softly as he gently placed a hand over her arm.

"I'm the owner, silly! I can be late." She rolled her eyes then looked at Hope. "But whatever. I'm sorry. I guess it's impossible for me to get you to appreciate my sense of humor. Look, if I'm sorry if I offended you. I have an inappropriate sense of humor. I'm eccentric and quirky. What can I say?"

Hope nodded. "It's fine."

Amy kissed Aiden passionately on the lips then. It lasted longer than it should have, and Hope half wondered if Amy was kissing him like that just to show off to her.

Hope's phone rang, and she had never been more relieved to hear it ring. She immediately picked it up, not even checking first to see whom it was. She hoped it wasn't a promotional call, but then again, answering a promotional call would be a million times better than seeing Amy and Aiden make out, she figured.

"Hello?"

"Hope! It's Roman. Look, I know you're busy with the twins, but is there any way at all that you can find a sitter and come in? Half our officers are in Mount Vernon, I have Lani and JJ out patrolling, and Ramirez and Jameson are out on a hit and run case. Everyone else are out and about. I have so much paperwork that needs done, and now we just got a call about a break in. I need you."

Hope sighed. "I want to help out, I really do, but I don't have any one to watch the twins. I suppose I can try again to find someone, but it might take me a while."

"Whenever you can get it would be great. I appreciate this, Hope. Normally I would never ask, but I'm desperate."

"I'll see what I can do." Hope hung up the phone.

"I can watch them," Aiden said gently.

Hope turned around. Amy was gone, but Aiden had remained. "I don't know…" she said; hesitant.

"Hope, I know I'm one of the last people you trust, but you know I'd never hurt your kids. I'm a good father—or at least I was. You even admitted that to me once when you were as angry with me as you could get!" Aiden reminded her.

Hope sighed. "I know you're a good father, and I know you'd never hurt them. Rafe would hate this. You know that don't you?"

Aiden smirked. "Which makes the prospect of watching the twins all the more enjoyable."

Hope shot him a look. "Watch it," she warned.

Aiden held up his hands in defense. "All right, all right. I'm sorry. Let me do this for you. It's the least I can do after all the pain and trouble I caused you."

Again, Hope sighed. "Fine. But only because I'm desperate!" She reached into her pocked and took out her house key. She handed it to Aiden. "I have their diaper bag in the stroller. It has a couple bottles, some diapers, wipes, and diaper rash cream. She raised an eyebrow. "You do no how to change a baby, right?"

Aiden nodded. "It's been a long while of course, but I used to change Chase's diaper all the time. Like I said, I was a good dad." He grinned proudly.

Hope nodded. "Right! Well, take the twins home and try to get them down for a nap. If they wake up, you can feed them each a bottle. Oddly enough, they've both always liked their formula cold, so don't worry about heating it up. There are extra bottles in the fridge if you need them. Their diaper bag is insulated, so the bottles in there will still be good. I shouldn't be too long. I'll call Rafe and have him call me when he's on his way home so that I know when to get home. I do not want Rafe coming home to seeing you with the twins. He'll freak out."

Aiden rolled his eyes. "And probably give me punch in the face number three, knowing him."

Hope was going to stick up for Rafe, but didn't when she realized Aiden was probably right.

She walked over to the twins and kissed their cheeks. "Mommy's got to go to work now. You be good for Aiden, all right? I'll be home soon." She then stood up and looked at Aiden. "Thank you so much for watching them. You're really helping out!"

"No problem! I'm happy to help," Aiden said with a shrug.

Hope started to leave, but thought of something and turned around to look at Aiden. "Oh, and Aiden?"

Aiden looked at her. "Yes, Hope?"

"Please don't let Amy near my children."

Aiden smirked. "Don't worry. She works until closing."

Hope nodded. "Good!" She then headed off for work, hoping she didn't just make a huge mistake in leaving the twins with Aiden.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

Aiden was thrilled that Hope trusted him with her twins. He hoped this meant that Hope had stopped being so angry with him. He knew she would never take him back, but he hoped that one day she would at least forgive him for all he had done. This was a good start, he knew.

Having arrived at Hope's house, he looked down at the twins. They were starting to get a little whiny. "Are you guys tired?" he asked.

Faith whined in response.

He smirked. "Don't worry. I know you're a girl. Guys is just a general term in this case." He winked at Faith, then picked her up. He then began to gently rock her in his arms. She was still fussy. "I'll get you a bottle." He looked at RJ. "How about you? Are you hungry little guy?" He did his best to pick up RJ with his free arm without dropping Faith. Hope would really never forgive him if he dropped her!

"All right. I didn't think this thing through. I can't get the bottle with both of you in my arms." He suddenly got a whiff of something foul. "And I think one of you pooped. Great!" He sighed. Watching twins on his own was not as easy as his brain had told him it would be when he had offered to sit for them. "All right. I got a plan." He headed up the stairs and looked around until he found the nursery.

Judging from the pink princess crown and princess castle mobile hanging above it, Faith's crib was on the right side of the room. And judging by the blue cars mobile above the other crib, RJ's crib was on the left side of the room.

He carefully placed RJ in his crib, then brought Faith to the changing table. He saw all he needed right there on the changing table, so he just decided to use the stuff there. He had forgotten the diaper bag downstairs anyway.

He unsnapped Faith's little white onesie that had a pink crown and text that read, _Mommy and Daddy's little princess_. He took off her diaper. She was wet, but hadn't pooped. "It must be your brother then." He quickly changed her, making sure not to forget the diaper rash cream. He even added some powder for good measure. He diapered her back up, then re-snapped her onesie before placing her back in her crib. "I'll feed you in a minute, but we can't let your brother sit in poopy, now can we?" he asked her in a baby voice.

Faith whimpered, but didn't cry.

"Good girl!" Aiden said before heading over to RJ. He picked him up. "Okay, you little stink pot! Let's get you changed." He brought RJ over to the changing table and began the process of changing him.

"Yuck! So gross little man," Aiden said to him. "But it's all right. You're just a baby." He began to clean him off with the wipes. "But if you're still doing this when you're a teenager, you got problems!" he joked. He finished wiping RJ, and was about to apply the cream and powder when RJ peed all over Aiden's shirt.

Aiden quickly stood back, but it was too late. The front of his shirt was covered in baby pee.

Aiden sighed. "It's my fault. I forgot you have to watch out for that with boys. Having had a son myself, you would have thought I'd remember that."

Aiden quickly applied the cream and powder, then re-diapered RJ up. He snapped his white onesie that that a Red racecar on it with the text, _Racing my way into Daddy and Mommy's hearts._

"Cute!" Aiden said. He took off his shirt and let it set on the changing table for now. "Peeing on me, however, is _not_ cute." He picked up RJ and kissed his cheek. "But I forgive you since you're so cute!"

RJ smiled.

"Are you hungry?" Aiden asked him.

RJ yawned in response.

"Or maybe just tired, huh?" Aiden placed RJ in his crib and covered him up.

RJ's little eyes fluttered shut.

"Well, at least that's one less baby I have to feed for now!" Aiden said. He then went over to a still slightly whiny Faith and picked her up. "Come on, you. Let's go get you a bottle. Then it's naptime for you too, Sweetheart!"

He headed down the stairs and grabbed a bottle from the diaper bag. He then sat down on the couch and fed her.

Faith looked into his eyes as she drank.

Aiden smiled as he looked into her pretty green eyes. She really did look just like her mother.

Faith finished her bottle. He grabbed a nearby burp cloth and gently burped her. By now, her eyes were fluttering shut, and he knew it was time for her nap.

He set the bottle and burp cloth down, then carried her up the stairs to her crib. He laid her down and covered her, then, after making sure the monitor was on, he grabbed his shirt and left the room, leaving the door open just a crack.

He headed downstairs and threw his shirt in the washing machine. He was sure Hope wouldn't mind. He then went to lie down on the couch and watch TV. He sure hoped the twins didn't wake up soon. He had only been watching them for a half hour, but he was already exhausted!

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

Fortunately, the twins slept pretty well. After the first half hour, Aiden had thrown his shirt in the drier. Then, he went to check on the twins. They were still sleeping, and he was grateful.

Another hour passed. Aiden spent the time cleaning up the kitchen a little. It looked messy. He supposed that's what happened when you had twins. You didn't have time to put things away or take as much care cleaning up as you normally would.

Suddenly, the sound of crying came over the monitor.

Guessing that it was RJ since he hadn't had a bottle in a while, he quickly took the other bottle out of the diaper bag, then headed upstairs.

Sure enough, RJ was the one crying.

Aiden lifted him out of his crib.

"Sh… Don't worry, Sweetheart. I know you're hungry. I got a bottle for you." He sat down in the rocking chair. "You got to be quiet so you don't wake your sister up, okay?" Aiden gently soothed. He then fed RJ his bottle. RJ thankfully quieted right up as he drank from the bottle.

Aiden gently rocked him back and forth. "That's a good boy…"

Meanwhile, Hope arrived home. She had helped Roman out with by taking care of an arrest. He had finished his paperwork while she had done that. Also, another officer was able to come in, so she had been excused. She was relieved. She did not want Rafe coming home to Aiden taking care of the twins. He told her he would call when he was finished in Mount Vernon, so she didn't have to worry about that now at least.

She was about to head upstairs to find Aiden, but stopped short when she heard his voice over the baby monitor.

"You know, RJ, you really are cute despite the fact that Rafe is your daddy. You got normal eyebrows. Don't even let him convince you to grow them out! The Bert look is not a good look. Don't know who Bert is? Have your mommy put a show called _Sesame Street_ on for you." Aiden was saying.

Hope shook her head.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't badmouth your daddy in front of you. I know he loves you so much! That is one thing I'll give him. He is a very good daddy, and you'll never have to doubt his love for you. Even if he is an a—I mean, a donkey to most everyone else; mainly me."

Hope smirked. Well, at least he had enough sense not to swear in front of her children, she figured. And she did appreciate Aiden not entirely bashing Rafe in front of his son.

Faith started crying too then.

"Uh oh! It looks like your sister is up! I need to burp you first."

Hope smiled to herself as she heard her son burp a moment later.

There was then a rustling noise as Aiden picked up Faith.

"All right, you two. Want me to rock you?" Aiden asked them.

A moment later, she heard the twins both get fuzzy. She was about to head upstairs when Aiden spoke again.

"How about a song? I'm not a very good singer at all, and this may end up making you cry even more, but it's worth a shot, right? This is a lullaby I used to sing to my son when he was about your age."

The twins whimpered in return.

Aiden then began to sing. He was right. He _wasn't_ a very good singer. He wasn't horrible, but he'd never win _The Voice_. Still, at that moment, it was a sweet sympathy to Hope's ears because he was singing for her children.

"Hush-a-by little ones. Close your eyes little ones. Dream time is here. You needn't fear. For when you wake, I will be here. Rest your heads little ones. Dream sweet dreams little ones. The stars say 'Goodnight', I say 'Sleep tight', and when you wake, I will be here." Aiden finished singing. "I hope you liked that," he said in a whisper. "I made it plural just for you guys."

Hope wiped the tears from her eyes. It was the most touching thing she had ever heard.

She headed upstairs to see Aiden and the twins.

 _ **~*came back to me.~**_

 __Hope arrived in the nursery just as Aiden was setting a now sleeping Faith down in her crib. RJ was already tucked snugly in his crib and was sleeping again.

Aiden kissed her cheek. He hadn't noticed Hope yet. "Goodnight, Sweet Princess! Sweet dreams, Beautiful." He laid her down and covered her up. He then turned to leave.

He gasped; a hand over his heart. "Hope! You scared me. When did you come in? I didn't hear you."

Hope smirked. "Apparently." She then raised an eyebrow. "Where is your shirt?"

Aiden blushed. He had forgotten he wasn't wearing one. "I was changing RJ and forgot that I needed to take special precautions when changing him. He peed on me."

Hope covered her mouth and snickered.

"I hope you don't mind, but I used your washer and drier. I'm sure my shirt is dry by now," Aiden said; still blushing.

Hope smiled. "I don't mind. You could have put on one of Rafe's shirts, you know. I could have had it cleaned and put back before he even noticed."

Aiden shrugged. "I didn't want to go searching through drawers."

Hope motioned him to the hallway. "Come on."

He followed her out, and she quietly shut the nursery door, leaving it open a crack. "I heard the things you said to RJ, and I heard your song through the baby monitor," Hope confessed.

Aiden blushed. "I'm sorry you had to be subjected to my singing voice."

Hope shook her head. "It was actually very sweet. Thank you for being so kind to the twins."

"Why wouldn't I be?" Aiden asked with a smile. "I love kids! Anyway, they are a part of you."

The way Aiden looked at Hope made her blush. She pushed some hair behind her ear. "Let's go downstairs. I'll get you your shirt for you," she said softly.

Aiden nodded. "All right." He smiled at her. "Then I can be out of here."

She smiled weakly in return and nodded.

They then headed down the stairs together…just as Rafe arrived home and came in the door.

As he saw Hope and Aiden coming down the stairs, Aiden with his shirt off, his face immediately turned to one filled with anger.

He clenched his fists together. "Does anyone want to tell me what the hell is going on here?"

Hope and Aiden nervously looked at each other. They were busted!


	7. S1E7

_**This Love…**_

 _ **Season 1 Episode 7: The Boy Is Mine**_

"I asked you both a question," Rafe said angrily.

"Don't talk to her in that tone," Aiden scolded Rafe.

Rafe looked at him in surprise. "Excuse me? Are you really trying to tell me how I can and cannot talk to my wife?"

Aiden shrugged. "Why not? You try to tell her who she can and cannot talk to."

Rafe headed toward Aiden with a mission, his fists clenched.

Hope quickly stood in between them. "Knock it off! Both of you!" she looked at Rafe, then at Aiden, then back at Rafe. "I thought you were going to call on you way home."

Rafe stared at her coldly. "I forgot. Why did you want me to call first? So I wouldn't catch you with Aiden?"

Hope placed her hands over his chest. "It's not like that," she said softly. "I got called into work. I couldn't find a sitter. I had run into Aiden and Amy at the park when I got the call from Roman. Aiden overheard and offered to watch the twins for me. Roman was desperate and really needed me to come in, so I took Aiden up on his offer."

"Of course Aiden was there! Aiden's always there!" Rafe snapped. He then nodded at Aiden. "Do you always babysit without a shirt on?"

"RJ peed on my shirt when I was changing him. I put in in the washer, and later the drier. We were just on our way to get my shirt now," Aiden calmly explained.

"What's with this 'we' crap? You and Hope are no longer a 'we' nor will you ever be again! You're a big boy and you obviously know where the drier is. Why don't you go get your shirt by yourself, then get the hell out of my house!" Rafe snapped.

Aiden rolled his eyes. "With pleasure!" He then took off to get his shirt.

"If you ran into him with Amy, then where is Amy?" Rafe asked, turning to Hope.

"She had to go to work. She works until closing," Hope replied.

"Of course she did and of course she does! How convenient," Rafe said sarcastically. "I know you were in a bind, but I don't want Aiden watching the twins anymore. I don't trust him and I never will. You shouldn't either!"

Hope placed a hand over Rafe's shoulder. "Rafe, calm down. He was excellent with them. He fed them their bottles, changed them, and got them down for their naps after singing to them. He sang them the sweetest little lullaby!"

Rafe rolled his eyes. "Give me a break! I'm not buying the nice guy routine. And how could he let himself get peed on? You would think having had a son, he would know you have to be careful when changing a baby boy."

"Well, to be fair, he hadn't changed one of Chase's diapers in nearly two decades. A least, I would hope he hasn't!" Hope joked, trying to lighten the mood.

Rafe didn't laugh. He just crossed his arms over his chest. "We'll find another sitter so that we have a backup the next time there is an emergency like that."

"Aiden told RJ that you were a great daddy, and that he never had to doubt your love for him. I heard it over the monitor. You shouldn't be so hard on Aiden," Hope said gently.

Rafe snorted. "You heard it over the monitor. Aiden must have heard you come in and said that, knowing you were listening in! He's playing you again, Hope! Why can't you see that?"

Hope shook her head. "He nearly jumped out of his skin when I came into the nursery. I had surprised him. Trust me, he didn't know I was listening. In fact, he seemed a little embarrassed that I had overheard him singing."

Rafe shook his head. "Whatever. I'm not buying it and never will. Aiden Jennings can't be trusted. The man is obsessed with you and always will be."

Aiden came back into the room then, his shirt back on.

"Good to see you finally put some clothes back on," Rafe grunted, his arms still crossed over his chest.

Aiden ignored him. "I'll be leaving now. Hope, have a good rest of your day."

Hope followed him to the door. "Wait! How much do I owe you?" She headed for her purse.

Aiden smiled at her. "Are you kidding me? You don't owe me a damn thing! I'm just glad I was able to help out. The twins are very precious. In a way, it was helping _me_ out. It felt good to be able to take care of someone again."

"Yeah, well, just remember they are _my_ children with Hope—not yours," Rafe grumbled.

Aiden rolled his eyes. He wasn't even going to dignify that with a verbal response. He then left the house. He didn't know how Hope could stand to be with Rafe every day of her life. He could barely stand Rafe for five minutes!

"Well," Rafe said once Aiden was gone, "he has _one_ thing right—you don't owe him a damn thing!"

Hope shook her head and sighed. They were two grown men. She wished they could at least be civil to each other. But, being Rafe and Aiden, she knew that was way too much to ask.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

Later that night, Aiden headed over to the café so that he could spend some time with Amy.

"One good thing about being the owner/manager is that I can take a break whenever I want!" she said with a grin as she and Aiden sat down to have their dinner.

Aiden smiled. "Very true."

"I close up at nine, so maybe we can do something then?" Amy asked before taking a bite of her avocado, lettuce, and tomato sandwich.

Aiden nodded. "What did you have in mind? We could go bowling maybe."

Amy shook her head. "I'm kind of tired. I think I'd rather go back to your place. We could watch a DVD in bed and pig out on snacks. You can pick up whatever you'd like, and I can bring over some of the pastries that didn't sell today."

Aiden hesitated. He didn't want this to lead to anything more than movie watching. Lying in bed with Amy—even just to watch a movie as she claimed—was a dangerous game.

She rolled her eyes. "Aw, come on! I won't try anything, I promise! We don't even have to watch anything romantic. We can watch a horror movie or a comedy. I'll even let you pick it out. Just don't pick action or sci-fi. Those kind of movies bore me to tears!"

Aiden nodded. It was against his better wishes, but since she assured him that nothing would happen, he figured it was no big deal. After all, he was an adult man. It was absolutely silly to not want to lie in bed watching movies with his girlfriend. "Sure! I'll get us a comedy. I could use a good laugh right now."

Amy grinned. "Yay!" She happily clapped her hands together. "Perf!"

Aiden took a bite of his BLT, hoping he didn't regret this date.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

After dinner, Aiden and Amy lovingly kissed, then she went back to work, after slapping his behind in a flirty manner.

Aiden shook his head. He wished Amy wasn't so flirtatious. She just seemed to be a very fast person. He felt silly, being the grown man that he was, wanting to take things slow. He knew any other guy would jump at the chance to have a fast, beautiful woman like Amy. But he just wasn't ready. He knew it was stupid, but he felt like he'd be cheating on Hope if he slept with Amy. He guessed it was because, like it or not, a part of his heart was always going to belong to Hope.

It was almost eerie the way Hope showed up just then.

"Aiden, hi," Hope said with a smile.

Aiden couldn't help but smile back. To this day, she still had the most beautiful smile he had ever seen. "Hey, Hope. What's up? I hope Rafe didn't give you too much trouble about me babysitting the twins."

Hope shook her head. "He threw a tantrum for a little while, but he got over it once he saw that the twins were still in one piece."

"Two pieces since they are twins!" Aiden joked.

Hope laughed. "Yeah. Look, I just wanted to apologize to you for the way Rafe acted. You were just being nice and helping us out, and he was nothing but rude to you."

Aiden shrugged. "It's all right. He's just Rafe being Rafe. It's not _your_ fault."

Hope placed a hand over Aiden's chest. "You were so sweet with the twins. I know it must have made you sad, thinking how you'll never get to take care of Chase anymore." Her tone was gentle and caring.

Aiden did feel a little sad, now that she had mentioned it. "I miss him every day, Hope. Taking care of the twins did remind me of the times I used to take care of Chase when he was a baby and Meredith was too drunk to care for him. I know he had since grown into a young adult, but I still feel like I lost my baby boy, you know? In a way, I did. I'll never get to hold him in my arms anymore—not in baby form, and not in adult form." He hated himself for letting himself get teary-eyed in front of Hope, but he couldn't help it.

Hopes eyes were filled with compassion. "Come here." She pulled him into a hug.

Aiden hugged her; grateful for her kindness. He took in the smell of her perfume. She wore something different now than she had when she was with him. He wondered if Rafe liked this perfume on her and that is why she switched.

He cleared his throat, and pulled away from her. She was Rafe's wife now; not his. He knew it was best that he remembered that. "So, how did you know I'd be here?" he asked her.

"I went to your place, and when you weren't there, I figured you might be here visiting Amy," Hope admitted.

Aiden smiled weakly. "You know me well."

"I always used to think I did," Hope said, both sounding and looking sad.

Aiden looked away. _Until you became wise to all my lies…_ he thought, knowing that she was more than likely thinking the same thing.

"Well, I told Rafe I was out on a Rocky Road and Fudge Ripple run. I better be going. I just really wanted to apologize to you," Hope said.

Aiden smiled at her. "I appreciate that, but, like I said, there is really no need to apologize. It's not _your_ fault Rafe is such a jackass."

Hope shot him an amused look. "Be nice." She surprised him with one more quick hug. "Thanks again for taking care of the twins. I'll see you later."

"Any time!" Aiden called out to her as she left. "And don't forget to pick up that ice cream!"

"I won't!" Hope said, sounding amused. She didn't look back.

Aiden smiled as he watched her leave. Then, once she was out of sight, he headed to the cemetery to talk to Chase.

In the distance, Amy watched Aiden walk away. She had witnessed the scene with Hope, and she didn't like it. She guessed tonight she would just have to remind Aiden that it was she who was his girlfriend and definitely not Hope.

 _ **~came back to me.*~**_

That night, Aiden set the snacks up on his coffee table. He had a huge bowl of buttered and salted popcorn, sodas (because wine seemed like it would lead places he didn't want to go), and a bowl of peanut butter M&Ms since she didn't like the chocolate ones.

For the movie, he had rented _Dumb & Dumber_. It was a comedy that he hadn't seen in a very long time, so it would still be interesting to watch even though he'd already seen it. He had picked out something he'd already seen so that he could be sure there was nothing sexual in it. He didn't want Amy getting any ideas.

His door opened, and he made a mental note to lock it next time. Amy had a habit of letting herself in.

"Hey, hey, hey!" Amy said. She shut the door behind her then locked it. Next, she looked at Aiden with a smile. "I locked it so we have our privacy," she said with a wink.

"Well, you're the only one who really walks in without ringing the bell or knocking," Aiden said. He didn't say it in a rude tone, but he did say it to try to get the point across that he would prefer her to ring the bell or knock when she came over.

Amy didn't seem to get the hint. "I brought over some blueberry muffins and pumpkin cheese cake Danishes. Everything else was chocolate so I just ditched it all."

"I wouldn't have minded the chocolate stuff," Aiden replied.

Amy nodded. "I know, but I didn't want to have to taste chocolate on you when I kiss you."

"Okay…" Aiden trailed off. He really did like being with Amy, but sometimes her eccentric behavior annoyed him. He never had to deal with that kind of thing with Hope! Hoped loved chocolate just like he did.

"So, what kind of snacks did you get?" Amy looked on the table.

"I got both diet and regular Pepsi, depending on which one you prefer," Aiden replied. Amy drank both. Aiden could never keep track of which one she preferred and when.

"Regular's fine. I'll eat the popcorn, but I refuse to eat the M&Ms," she said.

"They're peanut butter!" Aiden told her.

"They still have chocolate in them," Amy said. "You should have gotten Reese's Pieces. Now _those_ are all peanut butter and no chocolate."

Aiden looked to the floor. "Oh." He looked at her and smiled weakly. "Sorry about that!"

Amy hugged him, then kissed his cheek. "You know what? It doesn't even matter. You like chocolate, so you can eat them. I'll just deal with the chocolate-flavored kisses."

He laughed. "I'll try not to eat too many."

"So, what movie did you get?" she asked.

" _Dumb & Dumber_," he replied.

Her eyes lit up. "I haven't seen that movie in years! It's so funny!"

He grinned. Finally, he had done something she liked.

They started up the movie, and ate their snacks. They laughed together at the funny parts.

At one point, she had grabbed a blanket that was on the couch and draped it over the both of them, cuddling against him.

He placed his arm around her and rested his head on top of hers. He really enjoyed moments like these when they could just cuddle together without any pressure to do more. He had been pleasantly surprised she hadn't questioned why they weren't watching the movie on the bed like she had originally mentioned. He had thought for sure she might try to fight him on it. However, instead, she had accepted watching the movie on the couch with no question, and he was grateful for that.

Though, as soon as the movie was over and he had turned the television off, she took his face between her hands and began kissing him passionately.

He moaned, and gave into her kisses. She really was a good kisser…

She started tugging at the hem of his shirt, and he gently pushed her back. "Amy, I'm sorry, but I'm just not ready for that yet."

"Aw, come on! Just give into it… You'll enjoy it, I promise!" She grinned at him mischievously. "I can even do most of the work if you'd like." She winked at him then began kissing his neck.

He gently pushed her away. "Amy, I said no. Please just stop," he said quietly.

Amy sat back. "Well, this is certainly a change in roles! It's usually the man pressuring the woman," she said with a smirk.

Aiden looked away. "I'm sorry. I'm being stupid; I know." He looked at her. "It's just been so longs since I last… I guess I'm just nervous. Even guys get nervous too, you know."

Amy smiled sympathetically. "It's all right, Aiden. I completely understand! You wear your heart on your sleeve." She kissed his cheek. "It's one of the things I love about you."

She stood up. "You know what I think will help?"

Aiden stayed seated on the couch, propping his elbow on the back of the couch and his right cheek in his palm. "What?"

"I think if we get away from Salem for a weekend, it might help you relax more and not be so nervous. We're going to have been dating for two months come the second weekend in August. Why don't you let me plan a weekend getaway for the two of us? We can just enjoy each other's company without the hustle and bustle of Salem around us and without our jobs. Then, if it leads to something intimate happening between us…well… Problem solved!" Amy sat down on the arm of the couch. "What do you think?"

Aiden stood up and walked over to her. He gently took her face between his hands. "I say that sounds like the perfect idea."

She smiled. "I'll make the plans tomorrow."

They kissed for a moment, then Amy stood up. "I better be going before I try to attack you again," she said with a smirk and a mischievous wink at him.

Aiden grinned. "I'll see you tomorrow," he said as he walked her to the door. He unlocked the door and opened it for her.

Amy pulled him close for one more sensual kiss. "Goodnight, Gorgeous."

"Goodnight," Beautiful," he said as she left his condo.

He then shut and locked the door behind her, then sat down on the couch with a sigh. He sure hoped this weekend getaway went as she hoped. It was more than time he moved on, he knew, and Amy was the best one to move on with!


	8. S1E8

_**This Love…**_

 _ **Season 1 Episode 8: Say My Name**_

It was the second week in August, and Aiden agreed to meet Amy at Club TBD before they left. They had a pumpkin chia latte that her café didn't carry. She wanted one of those, so they had agreed to stop there on the way to their getaway. Amy still hadn't told him where she planned on taking him.

Amy was making sure her employees had everything under control, then she was going to meet him at the coffee house and they would go from there to wherever it was she had planned for them to go.

As he entered Club TBD, he saw Hope standing at the counter.

He shook his head in disbelief at how often he had run into her lately. He supposed Salem was just a very small town.

He headed over to her and tapped her on the shoulder.

She turned around and actually smiled when she saw him. "Aiden!" she said in surprise. "Hello."

"We finally bump into each other somewhere that isn't the park or the square!" Aiden said to her.

She laughed. "I know, right? So, how are you? How are things with you and Amy going?"

Aiden smiled. "We're actually going on a weekend getaway together this weekend. She's wrapping up some last minute things at work, then she's going to meet me here and we're going to head on over."

"Oh?" Hope sounded intrigued. "Where are you going?"

Aiden shrugged. "I'm actually not sure yet. She wanted it to be a surprise. She made all of the plans, so I guess I'm just going to have to wait and see!"

"Well, I hope you have a good time," she said.

"What's wrong?" Aiden asked her. "You look a little down."

"What?" Hope put on a fake smile. "Nothing's wrong. I guess I'm just tired. Between working all the time and then coming home and having to take care of the twins, my life's been a bit hectic."

"I'd offer to watch the twins for you again, but Rafe might explode," Aiden replied.

Hope laughed. "Or erupt like a volcano, covering the whole town of Salem with his wrath!"

"Now that is definitely Rafe!" Aiden agreed.

They both laughed.

"It's nice to see you both can have a laugh at my expense!" Rafe said, coming out of nowhere. "It's a good thing I came out of the bathroom now. Had I been in there any longer, you might have started in on my eyebrows."

Aiden and Hope looked at each other, their eyes twinkling with amusement, but they both knew better than to push it further. Well, Aiden knew better, but he decided to push it any way.

"You know, you really should name those two bushes you call eyebrows George and George W," Aiden replied.

Then it happened. Hope burst into laughter so hard that other customers turned to look at her.

Hope quickly clapped a hand over her mouth. Her eyes got big as she looked at Rafe, a hand still clapped over her mouth. "I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have laughed. That was just a really good one, you have to admit."

Rafe looked mad at first, but then his expressions softened a bit. Still, he did _not_ look amused.

Just then, Amy came in. "Hey, Sexy!" She grabbed Aiden from behind, and kissed his cheek, making a loud smacking sound in the process. "Did you get my latte?"

Aiden blushed. "Not yet. I'm sorry."

Rafe nodded toward Aiden, then toward Hope. "He was too busy flirting with my wife while you were away," he informed her.

Aiden and Hope both shot him a look.

Aiden turned his attention to Amy. "I was _not_ flirting with her. I just ran into her, then we got to talking." He glared at Rafe. "That's all."

"And making jokes behind my back at my expense!" Rafe grumbled, his arms crossed over his chest.

"Technically, that last joke wasn't to your back. It was to your big, bushy eyebrows!" Aiden quipped.

"You're just asking for me to punch you again, aren't you?" Rafe asked, stepping closer to him.

Aiden smirked smugly. "Go ahead and do it, Rafe! There will be a roomful of witnesses, and this time I _will_ press charges!"

Rafe snorted. "So much for not pressing charges because you wouldn't do that to the twins!"

Aiden shrugged. "If their father is that hotheaded that he punches me out not once, not twice, but three times, then it's a good thing to get said father away from them."

Rafe stepped even closer to him, his eyes flashing with rage.

"All right, that's it!" Hope stepped in between them. "Rafe," I'm sorry I laughed at Aiden's joke, but learn to lighten up, okay? It's just a joke. You didn't expect Aiden to give you all kinds of compliments, did you? I mean, I think telling RJ that you're a good daddy is the first and only compliment you will ever get from him. You badmouth him all the time too. You don't like him anymore than he likes you. You two hate each other. I get it. We all get it." She grabbed their coffees off the counter and handed him his. "Let's just drink our coffees and head to work. Roman will have our hides if we're late to work again."

"At least I have reason to badmouth him," Rafe grumbled, giving Aiden the stink eye as he sipped his coffee.

Aiden rolled his eyes. "Likewise."

Rafe scowled at him.

"All right, I think it's time we be going," she said to Rafe. She looked at Aiden and Amy. "You two have fun tonight." She smiled and winked at them, then gently ushered Rafe out of the coffee house with her.

Aiden turned to Amy. "Sorry. That jackass always seems to be trying to start trouble with me lately." He snorted. "And he calls _me_ the stalker! I'll go order our drinks and then we can be on our way."

Amy smiled weakly. "Okay," she said softly.

Aiden then ordered their drinks while Amy waited for him, feeling uneasy about his newly rekindled friendship with Hope.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

"The Green Mountain Lodge?" Aiden asked when he and Amy arrived at the lodge a couple hours later.

Amy grinned and nodded. "Mhm!" She turned to face him. "Do you like it?"

Aiden hesitated. The last time he had been there, it had been with Hope. He flashbacked to kissing her… Then to almost making love to her.

"You don't like it."

Aiden shook from his flashbacks and looked at her. She looked absolutely crushed. He instantly felt bad. "No, Honey, I'm sorry. I love it!" He grinned for show. "I only hesitated because the last time I was here it was with Hope. It was our last vacation together before she…" he trailed off.

Amy slunk down in her seat and looked straight ahead out the windshield. "Before she found out about your lies and left you for Rafe," she finished for him.

Aiden nodded. "Exactly. So, though this place holds good memories, it also brings bad memories with those good memories."

Amy sighed. "Of course, of all places, I had to pick the place you stayed with Hope!"

"Well, look. Maybe you can help this become a place of nothing but good memories for me," Aiden tried.

Amy looked at him; looking much happier now. "Yeah," she agreed. "Maybe I can."

"We'll never know if we don't try, right?" Aiden grabbed her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze.

"Right!" she said. She seemed to have a newfound determination. "Let's go check out our room. I made sure we got a room with a hot tub. I've seen pictures, and the rooms are so beautiful! We'll even have a balcony with a breathtaking view of the water. I only got us one bed, but it still doesn't mean we have to have sex, right?" she asked. "Only if you decide you're ready."

Aiden nodded. "Sounds great! Let's go!" Honestly, he didn't believe for a second that Amy would be okay without having sex. True, sharing a bed didn't always mean you had to have sex, but he knew Amy. Sharing a bed would mean sex to her, despite what she had said.

Well, maybe it was time to stop acting like a virgin teenage girl and just enjoy his time with Amy in the way that she wanted, he figured. At least he had a good twelve hours left to prepare…

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

"I was thinking we try out that new Chinese place for dinner after. You know that one we pass every day on the way to work?" Hope asked Rafe.

"Sure," Rafe said, sounding as if he didn't care one way or another. He sat at his desk, rolling his coffee cup—his third cup of the day—back and forth between his hands.

"We could go see a movie after dinner. I asked Ashley, and she said she would be willing to stay late. We can give her money to order pizza in," Hope added, referring to the babysitter who was currently watching the twins.

"Mhm," Rafe agreed, still not sounding as if he really cared one way or another. He looked dazed.

Hope sighed, and sat down on the desk. "Rafe, what's wrong?"

Rafe looked up at her. "Nothing's wrong," he said, trying to play it cool.

Hope raised an eyebrow. "Rafe, I've known you for far too long. You can't pull one over on me. What's wrong? Is this about Aiden?"

Rafe looked up at her. "Who else would it be about? That guy is always around. Now you even stopped pushing him away!"

Hope sighed. "Rafe… You have absolutely nothing to worry about. He is just going through a hard time right now, having lost his son. Can you imagine how upset you would be if you lost one of the twins?"

Rafe sighed. "I get it. He's hurting. But what does that have to do with you?"

"Rafe, like it or not, Aiden and I had history together," Hope began softly.

Rafe started to say something, but she cut him off.

"Uh, uh, uh! I know what you're going to say. That our history was filled with lies and deceit," she said.

"And blackmail. Don't forget the blackmail," Rafe reminded her.

Hope nodded. "And blackmail, yes. But I honestly believe he's changed. I can just sense it."

Rafe made a face. "What are you, psychic now?"

Hope shot him a look. "Don't be smart! The bottom line is, he is hurting. I went through losing Zack, and I know the pain he's going through. I wouldn't wish that kind of pain on anyone."

"Well, he has Amy to comfort him," Rafe reminded her—not that she needed any reminding.

Hope shook her head. "Amy wouldn't know comfort if it bit her on the butt!"

Rafe smirked. "Obviously, because being bit on the butt wouldn't be comfortable!"

Hope laughed. "You know what I mean!" She turned serious again. "Besides, after everything that has happened with me killing Stefano and my having gone to jail, I don't think I'm really in a position to judge anyone anymore."

"I'm not even going to bother trying to convince you how different yours and Aiden's situation was. I know you'll still see him as part victim because of his son's life being threatened," Rafe stated.

Hope smiled at him. "Good! That will save us another argument." She winked at him. "I just really think Aiden could use a comforting friend right now," she said.

Rafe sighed. "I love your kindheartedness, but I really wish you'd stay away from Aiden. The guy is bad news, and there is nothing that could ever change my mind about that."

"We'll just agree to disagree then." Hope got off the desk, and sat down in Rafe's lap instead. "Now, Chinese and a movie?"

Rafe smiled at her. "Chinese and a movie it is. But we're getting lots of snacks for the movie after. You know how hungry I still am after eating Chinese."

Hope laughed. "Extra snacks it is!"

They kissed, and that was the end of their argument—for the time being anyway.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

They spent the day going for a nice hike along the water. They took a dip in the lake, then then they had a picnic for two on a blanket by the water. They had gotten the food from a nearby deli.

They spent most of their time kissing by the lake. Amy had wanted to go skinny dipping, but another couple had showed up, so they couldn't.

Aiden was grateful for small favors.

After that, they had explored the shops in the area. Amy liked a lot of things—a lot! Aiden had bought her everything she wanted. He did love her to some extent, and he did want to make her happy—especially after this wonderful trip she had planned for him. And of course she had repaid him with a _lot_ of kissing, which he loved.

"I hope you don't think I'll only love you if you buy me things," Amy said, gently stroking his cheeks with her hands. "You really don't have to buy me anything. I'm sorry. I know I love to shop way too much. I don't want you thinking I'm a gold digger, or anything like that!"

Aiden shook his head. "By you saying what you just said, you just proved you're not a gold digger. And I know I don't have to; I _want_ to. You bring me happiness, and I just want to give you happiness back in any way that I can."

Amy grinned, and rested her forehead against his. "How did I ever get so lucky to land you?"

"I ask myself the same thing every day. How did _I_ get so lucky to land _you_?" Aiden asked.

Amy took his hand and led him down the store-lined street. "I guess we're both lucky then!"

Aiden grinned. "Yeah, I guess we are," he agreed.

"Come on!" Amy took his hand and led him to the ice cream parlor. "Let's go get some ice cream for dessert—my treat this time!"

Aiden laughed as she practically dragged him in there. "All right," he agreed, running to catch up with her pace.

After ice cream, they had gone back home and enjoyed a bottle of wine in the hot tub. He was glad she had agreed to get in with their suits on instead of getting in naked.

"I want to wait until we make love tonight for us to be naked together. It will make it more special that way," had been the excuse he had used. He had been stunned when she had actually agreed.

They went to dinner at the lodge's fancy restaurant. They got dressed to the nines (Amy had told him what he should pack ahead of time), and spent the night drinking wine, eating a delicious meal, and dancing the night away.

Once it started to get late, Amy brushed her lips against his ear. "Let's go back to our room."

"Don't you want dessert first?" Aiden asked nervously, trying to hold her off for just a little while longer.

She shook her head. "They don't have anything I want." She licked her lips as she eyed him up and down as if she were a lioness and he were her prey. She then slowly leaned in and purred into his ear, "The only dessert I want is standing right in front of me."

Aiden shivered and smiled weakly at her. "All right." He took her hand in his and gave it a gentle squeeze. "Just let me pay the bill then we can get out of here."

She nodded eagerly, and bit her bottom lip.

They then went back to the table, and Aiden paid the bill and left the tip. He guessed there was no more putting their intimacy off.

 _ **~*came back to me*~**_

They entered the bedroom and Amy began frantically trying to take his clothes off.

He walked her toward the bed, with Amy walking backward towards it.

 _I can do this,_ he thought to himself. _She is a beautiful woman, and I love her. Maybe not as much as I loved Hope, but I don't think I'll ever find anyone that I love as much as I loved Hope anyway. Amy is good for me. She's fun, she's exciting, she's beautiful…. This is right!_

He went to turn the lights out, but she reached out her hand and grabbed his hand; stopping him.

"No," she said. "I like the lights on."

He nodded, and they got to work undressing each other the rest of the way.

She then pinned him down beneath her; straddling him. "I like to be the one in control," she said with a grin. "You don't mind, do you?" she purred.

Aiden swallowed hard. "No. Not at all," he managed to get out.

Amy grinned, and gently bit his lower lip as she pinned his wrists to the bed with her hands. "Good!" she said, her tone dripping with an unbridled lust for him.

Aiden moaned in response, and his mind started to drift to how he used to pin Hope's wrists down when he made love to her. It had been one of her favorite things—that and having her neck kissed, which he made sure always accompanied him holding her wrists down. Then he'd let her wrists go because she wanted to tangle her fingers in his hair, or gently press her fingers against his back as her body arched in pleasure.

Amy was about to make love to him when he made the fatal mistake that no man should ever make, nor does any man want to make.

He moaned, and then uttered her name. The only problem was, in this case, it wasn't "Amy" that he cried out; it was "Hope".


	9. S1E9

_**This Love…**_

 _ **Season 1 Episode 9: Crash and Burn**_

Immediately, Amy stopped. "Excuse me?"

Aiden opened his eyes. His eyes got wide with embarrassment. He blushed. "I…I…Um…"

"You called me Hope!" Amy immediately got off the bed and began redressing. "Great! This is just great!"

Aiden sat up. "I'm sorry! I'm so, _so_ sorry! I don't know what came over me!"

Amy who already had her underwear back on, tried latching her bra as she glared at him. "I was over you—all over you actually— and yet you still called out Hope's name!"

Aiden looked away. "I'm sorry."

"Yeah, well, you should be!" she snapped. "You unlatched it, so you can be the one to re-latch it! I'm too mad right now to latch it!"

Aiden looked at her. She had her back toward him with an open bra clasp.

He fastened it for her.

She then walked away from him without a thank you and pulled on the outfit she had been wearing that day before she had dressed for dinner. "I should have known better. I mean, what man wouldn't want to sleep with a beautiful woman like me? My breasts are real C-cups and they are still perky. My legs are phenomenal and long. Yet, it's been two months and nothing! Yet, I see the way you look at Hope. Every time you look at Hope, you have this dazed, lovesick look as if she is some magical angel whom you would do anything for. The old hag has crow's feet and horse's teeth. You can see that, right? My skin is flawless and my teeth are perfect. I've never had a single cavity—not even as a kid! Yet you still pick that old bat over me!"

"Hey, do not say that about Hope!" Aiden snapped. "She is a very beautiful woman. You are too. There's no need to cut her down. It's not her fault I'm still in love with her."

Amy smirked. "Well, at least you admit it," she said, seeming to calm down a bit. "Get dressed. I want to go home tonight."

"Tonight? But it's already almost ten! We wouldn't get home until midnight and that's if we left right now!" Regardless, Aiden began to redress as well. Like Amy, choosing to put his pre-dinner outfit back on.

"I'd say we could wait until morning, but it's just too awkward to share a room with you even if one of us slept on the couch or the floor," she said.

Aiden nodded, then hung his head in shame. "I really am sorry, Amy. I never meant to hurt you. I really thought I could move on. After all, it's been two years." He looked back up at her, tears in his eyes. "I guess I was wrong."

"Look, it's not that I wouldn't have waited for you. I know I can be fast, but I'm not a total bitch. It's just that, I know your reasoning for waiting isn't because you're religious, or a virgin. Your reason for waiting is clearly because you're still hung up on Hope. I'm sorry, but I just can't wait for you to get over her. I deserve better than that! I've had relationships with guys before who were also still hung up on previous girlfriends. Many times I've had my heart broken over it and I'm not going to let it happen again. I'm not going to be someone's rebound girl," Amy said, almost in tears.

Aiden walked over to her and hugged her. "You shouldn't have to be. You're a wonderful girl who deserves much better."

Amy nodded. "You're right," she whispered. "I do."

They broke the hug, and Amy got to work at repacking her suitcase. "For what it's worth, I've seen the way Hope looks at you too." She looked over her shoulder at Aiden. "She doesn't look at you like a happily married woman would normally look at an ex. She looks to me like she is suppressing feelings. Trust me I know! I used to work as a mall psychic once. I'm very in tune to people's feelings."

Aiden smiled weakly at her. "Thank you for saying that." He didn't believe in that psychic stuff, but he felt there was no need to make the poor girl feel even worse.

"I know you think I'm crazy, but I'm not. She still has the hots for you." Amy finished zipping up her suitcase. She then stood up with it. "Normally I would never advocate for a woman cheating on her husband or leaving a marriage; especially with kids involved; but technically, you were married to her first even if it was for a very brief while. And, it isn't good for the kids if both parents aren't fully committed to the marriage. Sometimes staying together just for the kids is actually the worst thing you can do for them instead of the best."

Aiden was quiet as he looked at the floor and pondered what she had just said.

"That's all I'm going to say on the matter. I'm going to go bring this out to the car. Call the front desk and check us out, then grab your things. I'll see you out front with the car." With that, Amy left.

Aided sighed. As much as he loved Hope, and as much as he would want what Amy said to be true, he didn't really believe it was.

He packed up his things, then headed to the phone and dialed the front desk. "Yes, this is Aiden Jennings from room. 232. I know we just checked in earlier today, but something came up and we're going to need to check out right now."

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

The car ride home had been awkward to say the least. They had mainly just listened to the radio without speaking.

Aiden was so glad when Amy finally dropped him off at his place. He just needed to be away from her.

"I really am sorry," he said as he grabbed his suitcase from the back.

Amy gave him a weak smile. "It's okay. At least we've only been dating for two months. I'll be able to get over you quicker than I would have if we were dating longer."

"We can still be friends if you want. I know everyone always says that, but we really can be," he said, giving her a half-hearted smile.

"I think that would be too weird. You're always welcome at the café, and we can still be friendly with each other. But as for hanging out, I'm sorry, Aiden. I just think that would be awkward. Don't you?" Amy gave him a sympathetic look.

Aiden nodded. "You're probably right," he said quietly. "See you around. Sorry again."

"See you around," she said simply. She didn't sound like she cared if either way if she were to ever see him again. "Goodnight."

Aiden nodded. "Thanks. Goodnight." He then shut the door and headed into his condo. "Well, Jennings, I hope you're proud of yourself," he muttered to himself as he used his key to get back into his condo. "You ruined a relationship with a wonderful girl. And what for? A woman who you're still pining after even though she will never ever want you again?"

He entered his condo, and tossed the keys on the lampstand. He didn't even bother turning the lights on.

He went to the bathroom, then ditched his slacks in exchange for the plaid shorts he liked to wear to bed. Then, he climbed into bed, and tried to sleep the horrible night away.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

That morning, Aiden was so depressed that he couldn't get himself out of bed. He just kept thinking about how much he had screwed up in his lifetime.

Maybe if he had gotten Meredith the help she needed, she would still be alive today. If he had gotten her help, then Chase wouldn't have been in the situation where he accidentally killed his mother. If he had gotten Meredith help, then maybe they would have still been together. He would have never met Hope and therefore, he would have never broken her heart. But, no. He hadn't gotten Meredith the help she needed, and she ended up dead. He _had_ met Hope.

He had gotten into gambling debt so deep that he had been willing to play mind games with a beautiful woman like Hope and made her fall for him when he had no feelings for her. That wasn't right to do to any woman! Of course, even though he didn't in the beginning, he did eventually end up having feelings for Hope. Boy did he ever! Yet, he still, he continued to lie to her. Maybe if he had just told her the truth earlier…

But he hadn't. He had taken money from her to pay off gambling debts. He had planned to kill her on their wedding night despite her being the love of his life. Chase's life being in danger was no excuse. What he did was inexcusable.

Then he blackmailed her into staying with him. He had even planned on making Ciara live with them despite what Chase had done to her!

Heck, even now, he was still pining after Hope. She was happily married with twins, and yet he was still causing trouble for her. He was still taunting Rafe and hanging around Hope like a lovesick puppy. It was over between him and Hope, and yet he was still causing trouble for her and her husband even if some of it had been inadvertent.

Now, he broke Amy's heart. She was a perfectly wonderful, beautiful woman, yet he had treated her badly too; letting himself pine over a woman who didn't want him instead of giving Amy the attention and love she deserved.

He climbed out of bed only because he had to go to the bathroom. He then decided to shower. Almost sleeping with a woman he hadn't been in love with had made him feel dirty. He had wanted to believe he was in love with Amy, but the truth was, he knew it hadn't been love. He'd never love anyone but Hope, and he hated himself for it.

He finished his shower, then headed out. He had to get some fresh air. He would go insane if he stayed in the house. He remembered full-well the crazy things he had tried to do the last time his sanity had started to slip. He had blackmailed Hope and hurt her even more than he had before. Well, no more! He was done hurting Hope. He would stop hurting her even if it meant staying clear of her—this time good.

 _ **~*came back to me*~**_

Surprisingly, Aiden found himself hungry. So, he headed to The Brady Pub. He sat in a booth, and remembered the many times that he and Hope would sit in that very booth and get so caught up in kissing that the waiter had to reheat their food, for it had gotten cold. He was going to leave, but the waitress came to take his order, so he decided to just stay and eat.

While he was waiting for his food, the door opened.

He looked to see who it was, and was annoyed when he saw it was Hope. He was beginning to think that Salem was the smallest town in history as often as he had been running into her lately.

Of course she saw him and headed over to him. "Hey," she said, sitting down on the seat across from his. "I thought you were going away with Amy!"

Aiden looked down at the table. "She had an emergency. Her mother is in the hospital. She had a bad fall."

"Oh no!" Hope said.

Aiden felt horrible lying to her, but he certainly couldn't tell her that Amy had broken up with him for calling Hope's name out, and for still being in love with Hope. "She's going to be all right. She just has a broken leg." Aiden hated himself even more simply for the fact that lies always came so easy to him. He had never wanted to lie to Hope again, and now here he was lying to her... _again_. True, it was just an insignificant little white lie, but it still pained him to lie to Hope. What made it worse was he knew he was going to have to do it again if he wanted to keep up his plan to stay away from her. He would have to hurt her one more time, but it would be only in a minor way this time, and it was for her own good.

"Well, tell Amy I hope her mother feels better soon," Hope said.

Aiden nodded. "I will. So, where's the husband?"

"He's helping JJ with something so our lunchbreaks were different today. I figured I'd stop by quick on my lunchbreak and get a bowl of chowder. Mind if I eat with you? I hate eating alone." Hope took off her jacket and set it beside her without waiting for a response.

Aiden felt the pain in his heart at what he was about to do. _Goodbye, Hope,_ he thought sadly. _Forever._

He sighed, channeling the way he had been when first arriving in Salem. He had been a cad, and an even bigger jerk than Rafe, if that were possible. It was time to revisit that man. "Actually, Hope, I prefer to eat alone if you don't mind."

Hope looked confused. "I don't understand. I thought we were starting to be friends again."

"I'm still the same man I always was, Hope. Why are you suddenly changing your mind about me? You said you'd never forgive me for what I did to you. Well, our past still exists. I still did all those things to you," Aiden reminded her.

"I was angry when I said I'd never forgive you. The pain was still fresh. Now that I've had some more time to process everything and heal, I was able to find the forgiveness for you in my heart," she said softly.

Aiden rolled his eyes. "How noble of you," he said sarcastically.

She gently placed her hand over his. "Why are you being so mean to me? Does Amy not want us hanging out? Is that it? I know you, Aiden and this isn't you."

Aiden quickly pulled his hand back as if her hand was hot to the touch. "Amy has nothing to do with this! I don't know, Hope. I guess I'm just angry because all this time you were such a hypocrite to me. You were _so_ angry with me for lying to you about why I came to town, even though my love for you was real. Yes, I never should have tried to kill you, but I wasn't in my right mind! The threat to my son's life made me go crazy for a moment. Still, I couldn't go through with murdering you despite the threat to my son's life."

Hope looked hurt. "Aiden, where's this coming from?" she asked in practically a whisper.

Aiden continued before he lost his nerve. "You thought what I did was so wrong and unforgivable, and yet _you_ weren't in _your_ right mind after what happened to Bo, so it was okay for you to murder Stefano. He is a bad man, so that made it okay, right? But I lied to you, which you seem to think it much worse than murder. My son's life being at risk doesn't give me an excuse for temporarily losing my mind and thinking about murder to protect him. But your husband's death, and you wanting to protect Ciara's life, of that's a different story, right?"

"Aiden, stop. Please!" Hope said quietly. "People are starting to stare."

Aiden shook his head. "Not until I say everything I need to say! I didn't kill anyone, and yet you couldn't forgive me. However, you killed an old man in a wheelchair and expected everyone to forgive you simply because he was a bad man and you were going through some stuff. Newsflash: we're all going through stuff, Hope! There are a lot more Stefano Dimera types in this world. It doesn't make it okay for us to go around killing them all! And yes, I blackmailed you, but I was just so desperate not to lose the woman whom I loved more than anyone in the world! I came to my senses because of my love for you, just as I did when I was supposed to kill you. You killed a man and then tried to cover it up. Then you claimed to be sorry, but you kept making excuses anyway and expected to get off without consequences. You wrongfully killed Stefano, but you didn't care. Heck, you even let Bo's real torturer Deimos, off the hook! So Stefano had to die for Deimos' crime. It is no sweat off your back! Oh and I'm way worse than Deimos. I lied, blackmailed, and plotted—only plotted, unlike you— to kill you. Those were horrible things, yes, but not nearly as horrible as the things you did! You punched me. I never laid a hand on you. You killed Stefano under false presumptions and tried to cover it up. I only _thought_ of killing you—to save my sons life mind you—but I still couldn't. You acted like I was horrible for blackmailing you, when in fact, you, Rafe, and Roman committed a crime that I as the DA had every right to bring to light! You committed the crime and were angry with me for trying to make you pay for it. Yet you had no problem trying to make me pay for my lesser crimes, did you?"

Hope was in tears now. "Are you finished?"

Aiden nodded. "Yes, and so are we! Go back to your husband, Hope. Stop causing problems in your marriage over someone like me." He took out his wallet and slammed a Twenty down. "Here's for the lunch I ordered. You can buy yourself a bowl of chowder and whatever drink you want as a parting gift." With that, he grabbed his jacket and took off without looking back. He couldn't look back for fear of Hope seeing the tears in his own eyes.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

Aiden felt sick. He wasn't a drinker, and he didn't have any food in his stomach, and yet, here he was, drinking from a bottle of scotch. He had gone straight to the liquor store after his confrontation with Hope and bought two big bottles—one bourbon and one scotch. He had drank the whole bottle of bourbon at the cemetery as he explained to Chase all of his current woes. He knew he should probably get a shrink there in Salem, but right then, all he wanted to do was talk to his son…even if Chase _was_ dead.

After talking to Chase, was when he had opened the scotch. He was halfway through it when he decided to go see Amy.

He stumbled into the square and over to the café. He walked right over to Amy. "You're show petty. I mean so petty. I mean pretty. So pretty!" He laughed. "I don't know why I ever…What was it I did again?" He burped, then laughed. "Excuse me."

"Aiden, are you drunk?" Amy asked, her arms crossed over her chest.

Aiden hiccupped. "Not drunk. I just had a bottle and…and a half." He burped again then hiccupped. He laughed. "Definitely not drunk." He took another long swig of his scotch and giggled again. "I need some gin. Do you have any gin? I'm almost out of scotch." He hiccupped again.

"We don't serve alcohol here. You know that," Amy said to him.

"Bummer!" he said. He hiccupped again. "I feel dizzy." He sat down on the ground, right on front of a table that held a couple who looked own at him in bewilderment.

"Aiden, what are you doing? Get up!" Amy helped him up. "I'm sorry, your meal's on me," she said to the couple as she dragged Aiden over to the park and set him on a nearby bench. "Aiden, you cannot be hanging around my café drunk! You need to go home and sleep it off!" she scolded.

"I'm...sh…sh…shorry. S-S-Sorry. I screwed up again as usual. That's Aiden Jennings for you—" he held his bottle up as if in a toast. "Always a screw up." He downed the last of it. "I really needs some gin." He burped again.

Amy rolled her eyes and sighed. "Stay here." She ordered firmly. "I'm going to call someone to come get you."

"Who would you call? I have no friends. I'll just take a nap here and wait for you to get out of work." He laid down on the bench and closed his eyes, his hand still latching onto the now empty scotch bottle.

She took out her cell phone and dialed up the police station. "Yes, can I speak to Officer Hope Brady please? Thank you." She waited for Hope to pick up.

A moment later, Hope answered. "Hello?"

"Hope, it's Amy. I'm going to need you to come down to the square. Aiden is passed out drunk, and I don't trust just shoving him into a cab. He's pretty out of it."

"You're his girlfriend. Why don't you just take him home? I have work to do, you know," Hope said testily.

Amy sighed. "I'm surprised he didn't tell you. I broke up with him for reasons that, before you ask, are none of your business. Anyways, I couldn't leave even if I wanted to. We're short-staffed tonight. I can't just leave my café. I shouldn't have even have let to make this call. You can send out another officer on it if you'd like, but I called you because he could really use a friend right now instead of an overnight stay in a jail cell."

Hope was quiet for a moment.

"Are you still there?" Amy asked.

Hope sighed. "Yes, I'm on my way," she said begrudgingly.

"And Hope? Don't bring Rafe. It will just make things worse," Amy warned.

"I'm not an idiot." Hope then hung up on her.

Amy sighed. "I don't know, Hope. After all, you were dumb enough to let a handsome man who is crazy for you go," she muttered before hanging up the phone that was now beeping since Hope had hung up first. Then, after checking to make sure that a sleeping Aiden was still breathing, she left to go back to work.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

Hope arrived at the café. "Where is he?" she sked Amy.

"The first bench as you enter the park," Amy replied, barely looking up.

"By the way, I'm sorry about your mother's accident. Here's to a full recovery!" Hope said.

Amy scrunched her eyebrows at her in confusion. "What accident? My mother is away on a cruise to Bermuda with my dad. I just talked to her this morning."

"Then why did you come home from your trip early?" Hope asked; confused.

"Not that it's any of your business, but that's when Aiden and I broke up. It was too awkward to stay there together after that—even as friends. What made you think my mother had an accident?" Amy then asked; confused herself.

Hope rolled her eyes. "Just another Aiden lie." She then headed into the park. Sure enough, there lay Aiden, sleeping on the bench.

Hope gently rubbed his back. "Aiden, wake up. It's Hope," she said gently.

He slowly opened his eyes. "Hope? You should go. I'm not good to hang around. Rafe will be mad…so mad."

"Yeah, well, Rafe's not here right now," she said. "Come on, get up." She put her arms under his armpits in an attempt to lift him.

He slowly sat up. "Rafe's always around," he muttered.

"Yeah, well, he's not here now. Stand up!" Hope ordered.

Aiden did as told. "I feel dizzy."

"We'll get you in my car, and I'll take you home," Hope said to him.

"I don't want your help! I ca go myself!" Aiden said, pulling away from her so forcefully that he almost fell.

Hope caught him. "It's either you let me take you home, or I arrest you and take you to jail."

"Take me to jail. It's what I deserve for always hurting you," he muttered.

Hope sighed. "I'm taking you home, and I won't hear a single complaint about it!"

"Fine," Aiden grumbled.

Hope then helped him into her car. Then, once she had gotten his seatbelt buckled, she shut the door and got into the driver's side.

She then drove him home, wondering the whole way there had happened between him and Amy, and even more pressing, why he had been such a jerk to her earlier that day. She guessed maybe she'd soon find out. After all, if there was one thing she knew about drunks it was this—they told the truth more than sober people did.


	10. S1E10

_**This Love…**_

 _ **Season 1 Episode 10: Love Hangover**_

Hope was able to get Aiden into the house and onto his bed.

"You really need to sleep this off," she said to him. "By the way, I know you lied about Amy's mother. She told me you two broke up."

"I'm sorry I lied again. Now you have another reason to hate me," Aiden said with a groan. "Is the room spinning or is it just me?"

"It's just you." Hope absentmindedly took his shoes and socks off for him and dropped them to the floor. "The breakup was awfully sudden, wasn't it?"

"I screwed up with her too. I'm a bad man. No one should ever want me," Aiden said, his eyes closing.

Hope pulled the covers over him. "Why did you break up?" she asked in almost a whisper.

"I wouldn't sleep with her. I didn't love her. I could only ever love you…" he muttered.

Hope didn't know why she felt a jolt in her heart at his words, but she did. She sat down on the bed beside him. "You sure didn't sound like you were still in to me when you were telling me off at lunchtime."

"That's because I was trying to push you away before I…hurt you more. I keep hurting you, Hope. This time is was just for your own good. I don't want to cause fights between you and Rafe. I've already hurt you enough," he confessed.

"Don't you worry about me and Rafe," Hope said softly.

"I feel kind of woozy," Aiden said.

Hope noticed his forehead had drops of perspiration on it, so she headed to his bathroom. She found a clean washcloth and wet it with cold water. Then, she went back to the bed and sat down beside him again. She dabbed at his forehead.

"Mm… Feels nice," he murmured. "Rafe definitely wouldn't like this."

"Rafe's not here to see it!" Hope said simply. "So, you broke up with Amy because of me?"

" _She_ broke up with _me_. We were going to sleep together for the first time. We were so close to having sex. Yes, having sex; not making love because I wasn't in love with her. I don't even know if she was really all that in love with me…" Aiden began. "Why am I telling you all this?"

Hope ignored his question. "So, you didn't have sex with her then?"

"No. All I could think of was making love to you. I called your name out and that was the end of Amy and me. She got _so_ mad, but then she understood," Aiden said.

Hope bit her bottom lip. "Hadn't you slept with anyone since we last...?" She trailed off.

Aiden opened his eyes and slowly sat up. He put a hand to his forehead. "I couldn't sleep with someone I wasn't in love with, Hope. To this day, I'm still only in love with you."

Hope didn't know how to react to that. She felt her eyes start to well up with tears, but she didn't know why.

"Don't worry. I know it's over between us. I've been talking to a shrink the past two years. As soon as I can, I plan on getting one here too. Still, my feelings for you are still here. That is why I've been pushing you away. It will be easier on both of us. I just can't help it, Hope." Aiden reached out a hand and gently stroked her hair. "You're just so beautiful inside _and_ out. I can't help but love you. I always will. I don't think I'll ever date again. No one could ever live up to you anyway."

Hope didn't know what came over her then. She didn't know if it was getting caught up in the moment, or if it was the memories of what she and Aiden used to have. Whatever it was, she felt herself slowly moving toward him. She felt like a woman possessed as she gently took his face between her hands and kissed him softly and lovingly on the lips. Her heart raced as she felt him kissing her in return.

Hope was the first to break the kiss. She covered her mouth with her hand; shocked with herself. She couldn't believe she had just kissed Aiden. She was a married woman now. Kissing Aiden was _not_ okay, and she knew it! Why she had just kissed her ex, whom she had prior thought she could never forgive for all the lies and wrongs he had said/done to her, was beyond her.

Aiden groaned. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have… I think I'm going to be sick!" He then got up and quickly ran to the toilet.

As Hope heard him retching in the toilet, she felt as if she were going to be sick too.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

When Aiden finished throwing up, he wiped his mouth with toilet tissue, then tossed it in the toilet and flushed. Then, when he was sure he could get up without throwing up some more, he slowly stood up went back into his room, where he laid back down on the bed.

"You're still here," He said to Hope, who was still sitting on the edge of the bed. "I thought you'd be gone after I kissed you like that. I'm sorry. I don't know what came over me."

Hope was going to remind him that she was the one who kissed him first, but then she thought better of telling him and instead, kept her mouth shut. "It's okay. You're drunk. You didn't know what you were doing," she said softly. _So what was_ my _excuse?_ She inwardly asked herself.

"Do you hate me even more now?" Aiden asked, lying on his back.

Hope grabbed the washcloth again and dabbed his forehead once more. "I don't hate you, Aiden. I meant it when I told you earlier that I forgive you. A drunken kiss doesn't change that."

"I'm sorry for all the mean things I said to you at lunch today. I was just trying to push you away so that I wouldn't keep hurting you. I know that doesn't make much sense," Aiden said. "I didn't mean the mean things I said. I have no right to be angry with you, I know."

Hope shook her head. "No, it's all right. You do have every right to be angry with me because everything you said was true. I think even you know that; otherwise you wouldn't have thought to say those things. I know you were saying them just to push me away, but still…"

Aiden sighed. "Okay, so maybe I did mean it. I feel so guilty though. After all I did to you, how dare I feel anger and resentment toward you?"

Hope shrugged. "We both screwed up. We're human. Life's too short to hold grudges. I think we can both admit we are not perfect people. We both screwed up big time and did and said things we shouldn't. The important thing is how we learn from them and change. I'd like to think we've both changed since then."

"I agree. In a way, I kind of wish you really would have stuck with me until I got to this change. After all, I was your husband before Rafe ever was. I wish you had helped me with my gambling addiction, and forgiven me for lying to you about why I came to town since I really did fall in love with you. My son's life was in danger, so I kind of wish you'd even understand why I thought of killing you. After all, you knew what it's like to snap and kill someone. You especially know that protecting your children is one of the important things to do. I wish you could have understood my reasoning. I wish you would have seen how true my love for you was when I couldn't kill you despite my son's life being in danger. I wish you could have seen that I blackmailed you only because I was so in love with you and was desperate not to lose the love of my life. I never would have taken the recording to the cops, you know. You killed someone, and yet you still couldn't forgive me for thinking about killing you even though I couldn't go through with it. We both had similar reasons for doing what we did, but you still couldn't see that."

Hope opened her mouth to say something, but Aiden spoke again before she could.

"I'm not angry, Hope. I'm just sad. I would have stood by you no matter what you did. But you didn't even want to _try_ working things out once you found out I had lied about the timing of my abduction. All that time Andre had me locked up. I fought for my life just to get back to you. Then I came back and saw that Rafe had already taken over. It had only been six months since Bo died and you thought I had died. I mean, you thought I tried to kill you, so that part was understandable. But still, didn't you mourn at all over the loss of Aiden Jennings you fell in love with, the evil one aside?" Aiden asked.

Hope nodded. "Of course I did! I just had so much going on at once. My brain couldn't handle it all. That's why I killed Stefano. I fell for Rafe so quickly because he fell for me. He took care of me when I had no other man to love me in the way I so desperately needed to be loved. I had lost two loves in my life, and I just needed that familiarity back. It felt good to have a man that I knew I could trust more than anyone on earth to never hurt me the way you did, and to protect me the way Bo did. That's how I fell in love so quickly. It helped me cope."

"But I didn't always hurt you, did I? I made you happy until the very end didn't I?" Aiden asked.

Hope thought about it for a moment, then she nodded at the bedspread. "Yes," she said in a whisper. She looked him in the eyes. "I didn't want to admit it before, but the truth is, you made me _very_ happy. You helped me heal when I thought that Bo had abandoned me. You know, at least when Bo died, I knew he only left me because he was died. I knew he still loved me with all his heart! However, when he abandoned me, or so I thought, I felt as if he had stopped loving me. That killed me. But then you came along and…" She gently stroked Aiden's cheek, "I felt my joy return. I never knew it was possible to fall in love with anyone but Bo. But you proved otherwise." She smiled weakly at him.

Aiden nodded. "I just wish you had stayed with me through good times and bad like all married couples vow to do—stay together through good times and bad. I can see why you moved on the first time, but after I came back…You didn't even try to get past it."

Hope pushed some hair behind her ears and looked away. "I don't know what to say to that," she said in a whisper.

"It's okay. You don't have to say anything," Aiden said gently. "What's done is done, and it's over now. I know. You're happily married to Rafe, and with twins at that! Game over for me. I get it. Thank you for getting me here safely, Hope—especially after the way I talked to you in the pub earlier. I'll be okay now. I just need some sleep. My stomach feels better now that I got rid of some of that alcohol. You can go before Rafe gets angry again. Don't worry, I won't even mention any of this to him."

Hope weakly smiled at him. "Thank you. I appreciate that," she said in practically a whisper. She then stood up and headed to his bathroom. She opened his medicine cabinet and found the Tylenol. She took out two, and then put the rest back where she got them after screwing the cap back on.

She then filled a glass with water and brought both the pills and water out to Aiden.

She set them on the nightstand. "For when you wake up with a killer hangover," she said to him with a wink and a smirk.

"Thanks," Aiden said with a weak smile. He closed his eyes then, feeing sleep start to overtake him.

Hope pulled the blankets back over him and kissed his cheek. "I'm sorry," she whispered before grabbing her purse and leaving the condo, making sure to lock it up behind her.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

"Where were you?" Rafe asked when Hope arrived back at the station.

Hope pushed some hair behind her ear and looked at him. "I was with Aiden. He got drunk and needed a ride back to his place."

Rafe looked at her as if she had just sprouted three horns on her head. "Seriously?"

Hope looked at him with defiance. "Yes, seriously, Rafe. Amy called me and told me he was loitering around the square drunk and she needed me to come pick him up. So I did."

"She's his girlfriend. Why didn't _she_ just take him home?" Rafe asked.

Hope hesitated. She felt like she was gossiping, but she knew Rafe would find out eventually anyway. She looked at him. "They're not together anymore. They broke up. I guess their little getaway didn't go as well as they had hoped for." She hated keeping things from Rafe, but he didn't need to know why Aiden and Amy had broken up. His knowing would benefit nothing and no one. "Besides, she was working and couldn't leave. They were short staffed as usual."

"She should have just called him a cab then," Rafe said grouchily.

Hope sighed. "She didn't trust him in a cab. He was pretty out of it, and she didn't want another officer picking him up and putting him in a holding cell."

"Well, a cell is where he belongs!" Rafe snapped. "Next time Amy or anyone else calls you to take care of Aiden, you're not going. You call somebody else."

Hope scrunched her eyebrows together. "Excuse me? Did you really just order me to stay away from him?"

Rafe looked at her defiantly. "Yes. Yes I did."

Hope shook her head in disbelief. "You know, when you first started telling me what I can and cannot do and who I can and cannot see, I thought it was sweet. I thought you were just trying to protect me. But now it's coming off to me as exactly what it really is."

"Oh?" Rafe asked, sounding annoyed. He crossed his arms over his chest. "And what it is that it is? Enlighten me."

"It's you just being jealous and controlling. My gosh, Rafe! I know Bo asked you to look after me, but you don't have to take it so literally! We're both equals here. With Bo, he and I were equals. Bo never would have tried to tell me wat to do. He knew I was a headstrong and independent woman who is perfectly capable of taking care of herself. He only meant he wanted you to help me not be so sad over losing him. Instead, you took it literally like you're my father or something. I'm tired of you telling me what to do, what not to do, and who not to talk to! For gosh sake, Rafe! You're supposed to be my husband, yet when I'm with you, I'm constantly feeling like I'm your daughter that you keep scolding for misbehaving. I'm sick of it!" Hope snapped.

Rafe narrowed his eyes at her. "Well, if you'd stop doing reckless things like hanging around people who can't be trusted, then maybe I wouldn't keep feeling the need to protect you! Whether you want to believe it or not, I'm doing it for your own good. Sometimes you clearly don't have good judgment. If you did, you never would have been almost killed on your wedding night to Aiden, and you never would have killed Stefano Dimera!"

Hope's mouth dropped open. "I cannot believe you just said that," she said.

Rafe's expression softened. "Look, I'm sorry, okay?" he said gently. "I didn't mean for that to come out as badly as it sounded. "All I meant was that you always want to see the best in people—so much so that sometimes you don't see the bad in them. Also, you wear your heart on your sleeve, and sometimes you let your emotions take over so much that you're not thinking clearly and it can get you in trouble. I just want to make sure I'm here to protect you before you get hurt or do something you shouldn't do. With both Aiden and Stefano, I was too late. I don't want it to get that bad again."

"I know Aiden better than you do. He is harmless. As for what happened to Stefano, I love you for helping me, and I know your heart was in the right place. But if I had just handled it myself, and gone to the police right away, things wouldn't have gotten as bad as they did for me. I would have gotten off on temporary insanity easily. But, no. I let you talk me into covering it up, and look what happened. I did time—again. Not that I didn't deserve it, but still…

"I was just trying to protect you," Rafe said. "I didn't think you'd ever get caught."

Hope nodded. "I know! And, like I said, I love you for it. Your heart was I the absolute very best place. Still, had you trusted my judgment instead of trying to protect me and trusting your own judgment, things might have been easier on me. You need to start trusting my instinct more than you do, and stop treating me like an invalid who can't think for herself!"

"Okay. I'll try," Rafe said.

Roman knocked on the door to the office then, opened it, and popped his head in. "What did I tell you when you guys first started dating? Need a refresher? I said to not take your relationship to work. You need to keep it professional. Right now, even though JJ and I weren't in this room, we both know that Aiden Jennings is newly single, Hope doesn't think Rafe gives her enough credit for her judgments, and Rafe just wants to protect Hope. That is not keeping it professional. By the way, JJ now knows that Rafe helped you cover the murder up. You're damn lucky that JJ and I were the only cops outside this office. Otherwise, there might have another trial on our hands!"

Hope and Rafe both blushed.

"So sorry, Roman. It won't happen again," Hope apologized.

Rafe nodded. "We'll save our personal stuff for the privacy of our own home from now on," he agreed.

Roman nodded. "Good! Now get back to work. The Davis case isn't going to solve itself." He headed back into the main part of the station.

Rafe and Hope looked at each other.

"I'm sorry," Hope said.

Rafe nodded. "Me too. It's good to get stuff out in the open though. It's never good to bottle things up, right?"

Hope nodded. "Right," she said quietly.

"So, is Aiden okay now?" Rafe asked.

Hope nodded. "I made sure he got into bed okay, then gave him some Tylenol and water and took off. He needs to sleep it off."

"That's all?" Rafe asked.

Hope felt horrible for lying. She and Rafe had promised never to lie to each other. But right now, the truth was not an option—not at the station, and not after the argument they had just had. "That's all. He was pretty out of it. He's going to wake up with a killer hangover."

Rafe grunted. "Good for him," he said with a smirk.

Hope smiled weakly, then headed over to the filing cabinet to get the Davis file before Rafe could ask anything more about what had happened at Aiden's place.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

Aiden woke up with a groan. His head was absolutely killing him. It felt like a migraine. That was the last time he'd ever drink on an empty stomach! Heck, he planned on never drinking again—period. He should have learned from Meredith that nothing good ever comes out of drinking.

He swallowed down the two Tylenol that Hope had set out for him with the water that she had also set out for him. He then lay back down on his back. In a moment, he would get up and check his kitchen for anything to eat. Right now, he just needed to wait for the room to stop spinning.

He didn't remember everything he had said to Hope, but he did remember telling her some of the things he had told his shrink. He guessed, deep down he really did harbor some ill-feelings toward Hope for how she had treated him. He felt so guilty feeling that way after the way he had treated her. He felt he had no right to be angry with her. However, his love for her did outweigh his anger toward her. He did understand why she was angry with him. She was a little hypocritical, but he still understood.

He remembered the kiss from earlier. He hadn't been that out of it that he didn't know it was Hope that kissed him. He had only pretended to not remember that part so as not to make her feel awkward. Anyway, he did kiss her back. He couldn't help it! Her lips were just so soft, and the way she kissed him made it feel like nothing bad had ever happened between them.

He wasn't going to take her kissing him to heart though. She either felt sorry for him or…well… He didn't know why she had kissed him. All he knew was that she loved Rafe now; regardless of her having kissed him. Aiden knew that, metaphorically, it was time he started listening to his head instead of his heart. He was not about to get back on that dangerous road of trying to win Hope back. It was over between them now, and he knew it was high time he accepted that.

He carefully got out of bed, then, with a groan, headed to the kitchen, hoping that some chicken soup, ginger ale, and crackers might settle his stomach.


	11. S1E11

_**This Love…**_

 _ **Season 1 Episode 11: All I Need Is a Miracle**_

It was now early September. Ever since the drunken incident, Aiden had avoided Hope at all costs. For the past couple weeks, he had gone to work and then basically become a hermit in his own home. He felt embarrassed about the kiss even though she had been the one to kiss him first. He was also embarrassed about the things he had said to her. True as they might have been, he still shouldn't have said them to her, he knew.

He took a shower and got dressed for work. Today, he was going to have to stay out longer, for he had an appointment with Marlena after work. He was very grateful to her for agreeing to take him on as a patient. He had wanted another psychiatrist, just so things wouldn't be weird, but she had been the only one available. She had hesitated at first, but ultimately agreed to take him on as a new patient.

Once he was ready for work, he decided to get a quick breakfast at the café. Amy didn't work this early on Mondays, and Aiden was grateful for that.

He arrived at the café and sat down just as Hope was waking in. She was by herself.

Their eyes locked.

He smiled weakly, and motioned her over. He knew he had promised himself he'd stay away from her, but he wanted to thank her again for taking care of him when he had been drunk. At least this time he was sober and could control what he said better, he figured.

Hope smiled too, and walked over to him. "Hello, Aiden. So we meet again. Why are we always meeting here?"

Aiden shrugged. "Sometimes we meet in the park."

They both chuckled.

"It's not like Salem has that many exciting things to do besides hanging out in the square," Aiden then said, more serious.

Hope nodded. "True. So, are you here for breakfast?"

Aiden nodded. "Then it's off to work. After work, I have my first session with Marlena. I figured after my drunken incident, it was best that I get back to seeing a psychiatrist on a regular basis. Kind of makes me sound crazy, doesn't it?"

Hope's expression softened. "You're not crazy, Aiden. There's no shame in talking to a psychiatrist. I think everyone can use one at some point in their life. Lord knows I myself would go insane if I never had any one to talk to."

"So, is it just you today?" Aiden asked cautiously. He looked around. He didn't want to cause any more problems for Hope, nor did he feel like bumping heads with Wreck It Rafe today.

Hope nodded. "Rafe's working, and it's my day off. Because of the twins, we don't always work the same days anymore. I have a babysitter watching the twins just for a couple of hours while I run some errands. I figured I'd start off by having breakfast first!"

Not wanting to be rude like last time, Aiden motioned to the seat in front of him. What Rafe didn't know wouldn't hurt him, he figured. "Have a seat! We might as well eat together seeing as we both came here alone."

Hope smirked. "Are you sure it's okay? I don't need another blow up from you like the one at the pub."

Aiden blushed. "Sorry about that. I guess I needed to get it off my chest. But it's completely off my chest now." He made a motion with his hand as if he were pulling off something from it. "I completely waxed it right off my chest, so we're good!"

Hope laughed as she sat down in front of him. "You always could make me laugh, Mr. Jennings."

Aiden felt the familiar electricity in his heart that Hope always brought to him. He ignored it even though he had so badly missed hearing her call him Mr. Jennings in that soft tone. "I'd do anything to hear your beautiful laugh," he said simply.

She pushed some hair behind her ear and blushed, then cleared her throat. "So, what do you think you want to get?" She picked up a menu, and peered over the top of it at him. "I know one thing I'm getting."

He picked up his menu as well, his eyes on hers. "Me too."

Then, together, they said, "Bacon!"

They both laughed.

"Jinx!" Aiden said. After all, the last thing he needed was more bad luck.

"I think a bagel with butter and cream cheese sounds good to me today," Hope said. "Or do I want a donut?"

"Get both," Aiden suggested.

Hope looked at him. "I don't know. That seems like a lot for just breakfast."

Aiden closed his menu. "How about we each get a donut, then we share the bagel and bacon?"

Hope grinned. "Sounds good! We can have them only put the butter on one side of the bagel if you think butter with cream cheese is gross."

Aiden shook his head. "No, butter and cream cheese is actually what I prefer on my bagels as well."

"Really?" Hope grinned. "I had somehow forgotten that."

Aiden nodded.

"Rafe thinks I'm gross for liking butter with cream cheese," Hope confessed.

"You could never be gross," Aiden said to her. _Rafe is gross in general,_ he wanted to add. But he knew it was best to keep his mouth shut.

"You always did say the sweetest things to me," Hope said, looking touched.

Aiden looked her in the eyes. "It's one of the things I never lied about—just like my love for you. When I told you I fell in love with you, I really did. Stefano may have been paying me, but it was still real love."

Hope's eyes almost looked wet. "Aiden…" she said softly.

Aiden held up his hands. "I know, I know! You don't have to say it. It's over between us and has been for years. I get that. Still, I simply refuse to let you think that I didn't really love you and was only faking being in love when we were together. That simply isn't true!"

Hope nodded, and gave him a small smile. "I know. My love for you was real too."

Aiden felt his heart pounding. He wished it still was. "Good to know."

The waiter came then and took their orders, then he took off to put their orders in and get their drinks. They had both opted for coffee and orange juice. They even took their coffees the same way.

"We always did like the same foods and drinks," Hope said.

Aiden nodded. "It made it so much easier when we went out places."

Hope nodded her agreement. "Rafe and I like the same things for the most part, but there are a few things he loves and I won't touch and vice-versa."

"I couldn't believe Amy hated chocolate," Aiden said, wanting to get off the topic of Rafe.

Hope nodded. "I'm glad _someone_ brought that up! Seriously, how could you have dated someone who doesn't like chocolate? That's just weird right there," she joked.

Aiden nodded. "I know, right? I don't know what I was thinking!" he joked in return. "You know, she didn't even like peanut butter M&M's because the shell was still coated with chocolate. She didn't like me eating chocolate because she didn't like tasting the chocolate on me."

Hope scrunched her eyebrows together. "Really? That is so ridiculous!"

Aiden nodded. "I know, right?"

"It's funny how people can be so different. I loved kissing you after you'd just eaten chocolate." Hope grinned at Aiden. "Sometimes I'd even give you some just so I could taste it on your lips and tongue! Is that weird?"

Aiden laughed. "Not as weird as not liking chocolate!"

Hope laughed too. "So true!"

They were both quiet for a moment, and Aiden had to wonder if she was thinking back to when they were dating and loved to kiss each other, which usually led to more than just kissing.

"Here are your orange juices and coffees, and here are the creams and sugars."

They both looked up as the waiter set down their drinks. "Your food should be out in just a couple of minutes."

They thanked him, and he left again.

"So, did you ever find a building for your practice?" Hope asked.

Aiden nodded. "I bought the one on Water Crest Drive."

"Really? That's great! Congratulations!" Hope said.

Aiden grinned. "Thanks! I'm going to continue with my current job for now. I still have some renovations to get done at the new place, but I'm hoping to get the new firm up and running by the New Year."

"Do you have any plans to add any partners?" Hope asked.

Aiden nodded. "I think I might. After all, I can't run the place by myself. I might hire some associates as well."

"Well, you're a fantastic lawyer. I'm sure you'll know just who to hire, and that your business will be a success!" Hope said.

"I appreciate that. Thank you," Aiden said to her.

Their food came then, and they split their bagel.

"I'm a little sad. I had always secretly hoped that Chase would have followed in my footsteps and gone to law school. He could have interned at my office, and one day maybe even partnered with me. I even planned on passing the business on to him. Now, I'll have my dream of owning my own law firm, but my dream will never be completely fulfilled without Chase," Aiden admitted.

Hope looked solemn. "I understand. I still wonder what Zack would have been doing had he lived. Would he be a doctor or a lawyer? Would he be an artist or a writer? It just seems so unfair when children are taken too soon in this world."

Aiden nodded. "It is! But I guess we just have to trust that it's God's plan. He knows things that we cannot even begin to understand."

Hope nodded. "True." She finished her bagel and bit into her headlight donut. She closed her eyes. "Mm! So good."

Aiden took a bite of his chocolate donut. "Mm… Mine's good too. You know, it's so refreshing to be able to enjoy chocolate with someone who enjoys it too. I hated when Amy would watch me eat and give me such a disgusted look as I ate."

Hope nodded. "I know the look! I get that look whenever Rafe sees me eating butter and cream cheese together."

Aiden made the face.

Hope laughed. "Exactly!"

"Getting back on the subject of Amy, that really was bizarre how she would just blurt out mean and inappropriate things out of the blue and think it's totally normal," Aiden said.

Hope nodded. "I hated the way she talked to you! If I'm being honest, I'm glad you two broke up!" Hope then softened her tone and looked at him with compassion in her eyes. He gently placed her hand over his. "You deserve better than her, Aiden. I really mean that."

Aiden felt his heart race at both her touch and her words. "Thank you for saying that," he said quietly.

"It's the truth!" Hope said, rubbing his hand in a friendly manner before letting go of it.

They enjoyed the rest of their breakfast, having really nice conversation as they ate. To Aiden, it felt like old times. He wondered if she felt the same way.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

"Well, thank you for lunch. You know you didn't have to pay. I feel bad. I should be the one to pay to thank you for taking care of me the other night. Thank you, by the way. And I'm sorry for any jackass thing I might of said," Aiden said as they stood up.

Hope had insisted on paying the bill and leaving the tip in honor of celebrating the purchase of his law firm.

Hope shook her head. "You weren't a jackass. You were just stating what's on your mind. You were telling the truth, which is always a good thing. And as for taking care of you, consider it payback for watching the twins. That lullaby was the sweetest thing I ever heard."

Aiden smiled shyly. "To tell you the truth, I got it off of _Alvin and the Chipmunks_. Chase used to like watching the old 80s and 90s version. It was a song their chipmunk mother sang to them. Chase fell asleep to it one day while watching that episode, and Meredith and I had gotten a kick out of it. From then on, one of us would always sing him to sleep with that.

Hope hugged Aiden tightly. "Hang in there. I know losing a child is tough, but you'll get through it. I promise!"

Aiden hugged her back, smelling the familiar scent of her vanilla shampoo and conditioner. He wished he could stay with her forever, but he knew he couldn't. "Thank you."

Hope then kissed his cheek and left, waving over his shoulder at him and giving him the smile that always made his heart flutter.

He sighed as he headed to work, wishing Hope was his, but knowing she could never be his again.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

That evening, when Rafe arrived home, Hope was bathing the twins in their little baby bathtubs. Faith had a hot pink one, and RJ had a cobalt blue one.

"Hey," she said with a smile.

"Hey." He placed a hand over her lower back and kissed her. "Wouldn't it be easier to just bathe them in the regular tub?"

"Probably but I'd still like to wait a little while longer. I kept all my other babies in the baby tub until they were a year old. I just want to make sure they are big enough to transition," Hope said.

Rafe took a washcloth and started taking over RJ's bath. "I think they are big enough now. They can sit up on their own."

"I know, but I just feel more comfortable waiting," Hope said as she ran the washcloth over Faith's head.

Faith smiled at her, and she smiled back.

"All right. They do seem to love their baby tubs. They never even cry anymore when we wash them now. Did you notice that?" Rafe asked.

Hope nodded. "I think they find the warm water soothing."

They finished giving the twins their baths, then they dried them, diapered them, and dressed them for bed.

"Are we just ordering in again?" Rafe asked.

Hope nodded. "We might as well. Until the twins arrived, I never knew how tired I could get. I can handle one baby at a time, but when it's two babies growing up at the same time…Help!"

Rafe laughed. "I know what you mean. Having kids isn't at all what I expected it would be. I thought it would be a breeze. It's not. It's exhausting! I don't know how single parents do it!"

Hope shook her head. "It was hard enough for me those two years that Bo was gone before I met Ai—" She cut herself off. "Being a single mother to Ciara wasn't easy, but at least that was only for two years."

"And there was only one of her," Rafe said, choosing to ignore the Aiden comment all together.

Hope nodded. "Exactly! So, how was work today?"

Rafe shrugged. "It was all right. Shawn worked with me. We arrested two thugs for armed robbery. One kid looked no older than sixteen. I think he just got involved with the wrong crowd. He kept apologizing to us while his partner snapped at him for being a weak baby. I felt bad for the kid, I really did. I hope the judge will go easy on him."

"Maybe Aiden can take his case. He really helped keep JJ out of jail when JJ was dealing drugs," Hope said as she headed into the kitchen to put Faith in her highchair. "He does Pro bono work from time to time. I'm sure he would for that kid if the kid can't afford it."

Rafe followed after her. "There are plenty of lawyers in this town. Trust me, that kid does not need even more shadiness in his life."

"Aiden is not shady! Clyde Weston, Andre Dimera, those are shady people. Aiden is just a misunderstood man who made some really bad choices in his life." Hope took out the baby food and placed it in the microwave.

Rafe snorted as he put RJ in his highchair. "That's putting it mildly."

Hope shot him a look. "We've all done things we're not proud of. Heck, I killed a man. At least Aiden never killed anybody."

"That we know of," Rafe said.

Hope rolled her eyes. "Aiden feels remorse for what he did. That is not the definition of shady."

"Whatever," Rafe said with a grunt.

They got the baby food ready, and when they were sure that the food wasn't too hot, they fed the twins.

"So, what did you do today?" he asked.

"Oh, I had breakfast at the café in the square, then I did a little shopping and deposited my paycheck in the bank," Hope replied.

"You mean you had money left after you went shopping?" Rafe asked, feigning surprise.

Hope smirked. "Very funny!"

"Did you run into Aiden at all?" Rafe asked in what was meant to be a joking way.

Hope got quiet. She didn't want to flat out lie. "We um, met for breakfast. Well, it wasn't on purpose, but we both happened to be there alone, so we decided to eat together."

"You know, as much as you two have been running into each other lately, I'm beginning to wonder how much on purpose these meetings actually are," Rafe grumbled.

Hope scrunched her eyebrows at him. "What are you insinuating, Rafe?"

Rafe shrugged. "Nothing. I'm just saying that it seems like an awfully big coincidence that you and Aiden have bumped into each other numerous times since he's been back. I mean, you both always just happened to be at the same place at the same time. It's weird."

Hope shot him an unamused look. "Salem is a small town. People run into each other all the time. Practically everyone knows each other. It's not that strange. Anyway, he's not planning these meet ups and neither am I, so I don't know what you're so angry about."

Rafe shook his head. "I'm not angry. Just forget it."

"Not angry my butt," Hope grumbled.

Rafe didn't say anything, but for the rest of the night they were icy toward each other and, come bedtime, stayed on their own sides of the bed.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

As Aiden lie in bed that night, he couldn't help but think of Hope. He reminisced to all the good times they had had together. The thought back to all the times they had kissed…and made love. He thought of how Hope had kissed him that night he was drunk, and about how nice she was to him now, and caring. Then of course he thought about their hug today and how she had kissed his cheek.

"Don't do it, Jennings," he grumbled to himself. "Don't go down that road again. It's over between you two, and you know it!"

 _But is it really?_ The other part of his brain asked him. _First she kisses you on the lips, then she hugs you, and now a kiss on the cheek? Maybe there_ is _some truth to what Amy said about the way Hope looks at you after all…._

Aiden was going to disagree with himself, but didn't. The truth was, he didn't know for sure that Hope wasn't starting to get her feelings for him back. True, he didn't know that she was either. The kisses could have just been Hope being the kindhearted and caring woman that she was. She could just feel sorry for him. But feeling sorry for him wasn't necessarily what it was.

As he started to drift off to sleep, he decided that he would wait. He would wait and observe. Once he had determined how she truly felt about him, he would go from there. If he determined that she was just being friendly, he'd be happy that he at least had her as a friend. After all, when he had left Salem two years ago, he had feared she'd never even want to be his friend again.

However, if he realized she was developing feelings for him again, then all bets were off. Like Amy had said, Hope had been his wife first, and if Hope was starting to fall for him again, then all bets were off. He would do everything in his power to finally get his wife back!

He slept peacefully that night—the most peaceful he had slept in a long while.


	12. S1E12

_**This Love…**_

 _ **S1E12: Splish Splash**_

Hope woke up to Rafe being gone from his side of the bed.

She climbed out of bed, and headed over to the nursery.

Rafe was changing RJ and taking to him. "Say, 'Dada'. Come on. You can do it. 'Dada.'"

"I hate to break it to you, but babies usually don't speak their first word until they turn one," Hope said to him as she came into the room and picked up Faith.

Rafe looked at her. "I know, but they are eight months old now. I read somewhere that in some cases, babies can start saying their first words at seven months. Again, I know it's generally a year, but you never know. I've been saying 'Dada' to him every day for a month now. I am hoping he'll get it soon. Our kids are going to be geniuses. I just know it!"

Hope smiled. "Maybe." She then looked at Faith. "Say Momma!"

Faith stared at her blankly.

"Come on, Faith!" Hope coaxed. "Say Momma!"

Faith started to get fussy.

Hope smirked. "It doesn't look like she is going to be a genius any time soon." She looked at Faith. "But that's okay. You just take your time on your first word. I'd rather you not grow up too fast anyway." She kissed her forehead. "But when you do say it, it better be Momma!" she teased.

Rafe smiled. "I'm sorry about last night. I don't know why I let Aiden get to me."

"It's like you and EJ all over again," Hope said.

Rafe nodded. "Exactly! Maybe that's it. Maybe I'm just worried about losing you to Aiden like I lost Sami to EJ." He picked up RJ, who was now changed and ready for the day.

Hope walked over and gently set Faith down on the changing table. She then placed a hand over Rafe's shoulder. "You don't have to worry about it. I'm not going anywhere." She kissed his cheek. Still, despite her words, she flashed back to kissing Aiden that night he had been drunk. It had felt like old times. Her heart had raced at the touch of lips against hers…

She shook her head. The kiss could never happen again. True, she had kissed him on the cheek yesterday, but that was just a friendly kiss. Still… She knew she had to watch herself. She was a married woman now. Kissing other men and feeling jolts of electricity over the touch of his soft lips that were so good at kissing… _Rafe's a good kisser too—an amazing kisser,_ she inwardly reminded herself.

Still, Aiden's kisses were different somehow…

"Hey, where'd you go?" Rafe asked her, gently nudging her.

Hope shook from her thoughts and looked at him. "Hm?"

"Faith is waiting for you to change her. Also, I asked you what you wanted me to make for breakfast before you have to go to work," Rafe replied. "Where'd you go?"

Hope shook her head. "Nowhere. I was just thinking about all I have to do at work today," she lied. She smiled down at Faith. "I'm sorry, Baby Girl! Let's get that diaper changed and you fed." She then looked at Rafe. "Maybe two eggs over medium, two slices of bacon, some white toast with grape jelly and a glass of orange juice?"

"Coming right up!" Rafe said.

"Thank you," Hope said.

They kissed quickly on the lips, then Rafe carried RJ down the stairs.

Hope quickly changed Faith and got her ready for the day, trying her best not to let any more thoughts of kissing Aiden invade her thoughts.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

As Aiden ate his English muffin and drank his coffee, he couldn't help but replay his and Hope's kiss in his mind. She had most definitely been the one to kiss him first. That had to mean she still had feelings for him, right?

So badly, he had wanted to pull her down on the bed with him and make love to her. However, he knew that would definitely not have gone over well with her! Even if she _was_ starting to get her old feelings for him back, it certainly didn't mean she would be ready to just up and leave her husband for him! No. He had to take his time and play this safe. He had to do his best to remind her of what they used to have. He needed to show her that he could finally be the man she needed him to be; that he had changed. At the same time, however, he couldn't push things. He had to let _her_ come to _him_. He had to allow her to want more all on her own. He refused to try to force it again.

He smiled to himself. "Well, Jennings, it seems all that therapy has helped you!"

He would keep going to see Marlena. Their first session had gone well. She was kind to him and didn't once act snippy toward him even after all he had done to Hope. He would stick by going to the psychiatrist. After all, anything that helped him become the man Hope needed and wanted him to be was something worth sticking with.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

"All right, I'm off to work!" Hope kissed Rafe after she had changed for work and they had eaten their breakfast. "Thank you for breakfast."

"You're very welcome! And again, I'm sorry I was such a jerk last night. To make it up to you, I even called Aiden. He should be here any moment now," Rafe said to her.

Hope raised an eyebrow. "For what?"

"I wanted you to see that I can be big enough to apologize to him in person for the way I've been acting towards him," Rafe replied.

Hope nodded. "I'm impressed!" She put her purse down. "I guess it won't hurt me to be a little late for work. This I gotta see!"

Rafe picked up RJ and smiled at him. "See? Dada is a good man. Dada, Dada, Dada!" He bounced him up and down as he said each Dada.

RJ giggled, but didn't say a single Dada.

Rafe pouted.

Hope looked at him sympathetically. "Give it time. He'll come around."

Just then, the doorbell rang.

Hope smiled. "That must be Aiden now." She slipped her purse strap over her shoulder, then picked up Faith.

They then all headed into the living room.

Rafe answered the door. "Hello, Aiden. Please, come in."

Aiden walked in. "Hello, Rafe." He looked at Hope and smiled. "Hello, Hope."

Hope smiled at him. "Hello, Aiden!"

Rafe shut the door and turned to Aiden. "I'm sure' you're wondering why I called you over here."

Aiden nodded toward RJ. "Seeing as you have RJ in one of your arms, I'm guessing you didn't call me over to punch me out again."

Rafe shook his head. "Quite the contrary!"

"Ooh, contrary. That's a big word for you!" Aiden teased.

Rafe shot him a look. "I'm trying to be nice for once. Do you think you could do the same?"

"He really is trying to be nice this time, Aiden," Hope said gently.

Aiden cleared his throat and looked Rafe in the eyes. "I apologize. What is it you wanted to say to me?"

Rafe cleared his throat. He looked pained to say it. "I just wanted to apologize for all the times I punched you out. I'm also sorry for always assuming you have something up your sleeve when you don't. For instance, I got mad when I thought you were planning a date with Hope. You were actually planning it with Amy, but I was still a jerk to you. I apologize for that. And I apologize for not being appreciative of you watching the twins. Thank you for helping us out in a jam."

Aiden was quiet for a moment; probably shocked that Rafe had apologized, Hope knew.

Finally, Aiden extended his hand out to Rafe. "No problem. It's not like my sins of the past hasn't given you reason to be suspicious. I know that must have been hard for you to apologize. If you're willing to let bygones be bygones, then so am I!"

Rafe hesitated, then accepted Aide's offered hand and shook it. "Don't expect us to be best friends now or anything. I still don't like you…like, at all! I'm just going to try my best to tolerate you."

Aiden sneered at him. "Back at you!"

Rafe nodded. "I'm glad we were able to come to this understanding."

Aiden nodded as well. "Me too.

Both men's tones were cold.

"See? That wasn't so hard now, was it?" Hope quickly intervened before they could change their minds.

Neither man answer her.

Instead, Aiden turned his attention to Faith. "Why, hello, Faith!" Aiden kissed her cheek and she smiled. "It's wonderful to see your beautiful little face again." He then turned to RJ. "And you, handsome man. How are you today?" He leaned down, and gently stroked RJ's cheek.

RJ looked at him right in the eyes and said, "Dada!" then reached out to Aiden.

Aiden smiled big and took him from Rafe's arms. "Oh my goodness, you're talking now? Already? Since when?"

"Actually, that was his first time saying _anything_ , let alone Dada," Hope said in almost a whisper. She covered her mouth in shock. Oh, Rafe was so not going to like this!

"Really?" Aiden asked before kissing the top of RJ's head.

Both Aiden and Hope looked at Rafe, just waiting for his response.

Rafe's face was red, and he looked like he was ready to explode. "Get out," he said, looking Aiden coldly in the eyes. "Give me my son, and get the hell out of my house…now!"

"Rafe, don't swear in front of the children!" Hope snapped.

Aiden kissed the top of RJ's head once more, then handed him back to Rafe. "It's not my fault he called me Dada instead of you."

"If you don't get out of my house right now, I swear to God I'll kill you. Get out. **Now**!" Rafe snapped.

Aiden held his hands up in defense. "Fine! I'm gone. I have to be to work anyway." He turned to Hope. "Bye, Hope. I'm sorry about this."

Hope shook her head. "Don't be. It's not your fault."

Aiden then left.

"Not his fault? Of course it's his fault! He probably was coaching both RJ and Faith to say Dada when he babysat him that day!"

Hope shook her head. "So much for apologizing," he muttered under her breath. She then shot him a funny look. "What? Don't be ridiculous! You were the one coaching RJ for a _month_ and he still didn't say it. Babies are unpredictable. You never know when they are going to start talking and what they are going to say."

Rafe shook his head. "He probably thinks that jackass is his father. Great!" He then turned his attention on Hope. "See what you did, having him watch the twins? Now he thinks Aiden is his father!"

Hope was angry now. "First off, I told you not to swear in front of the twins! Second, don't you dare scold me like a child! My goodness, Rafe! Just relax! RJ is just a baby! He doesn't even know what dada means! Anyway, don't blame _me_. I didn't do anything but solve a babysitter problem. I had to go to work and I needed someone to watch the twins. Aiden was the only one available, so I took him up on his offer. He's perfectly capable, and was an amazing father to Chase. I knew he'd do well with them. I can assure you, he wasn't trying to coach anyone into calling him dada! You're just being ridiculous."

"Oh, so now I'm ridiculous, am I?" Rafe asked.

Hope nodded. "Yes, you are! Aiden did not coach the twins to call him Dada! Anyway, even if he did, they wouldn't call him Dada after just spending a few hours with him—especially seeing as that happened a while ago."

Rafe rolled his eyes. "You know what? Whatever. I'm sick and tired of you sticking up for Aiden over me."

"It's only because you are treating him unfairly!" Hope snapped.

"Unfairly? You think I'm treating Aiden, of all people, unfairly?" Rafe asked in disbelief.

Hope nodded. "Yeah, I do."

"He lied to you multiple times. He planned on killing you. He blackmailed you. His son raped Ciara for goodness sake! How could I possibly be treating him unfairly?!" Rafe yelled.

The twins both started to cry at his loud voice.

"See what you did? You made the twins cry! Nice going, Rafe!" Hope snapped.

"I'm sorry… Sh… Sh…" Rafe said soothingly to RJ as he gently rocked him back and forth.

Hope gently rocked Faith. "Sh… Sh... It's all right, baby Girl. Daddy's not yelling at you."

The twins settled down.

"Aiden had nothing to do with that Chase did," Hope whisper yelled. "He was locked up at the time anyway. The only one to blame for a rape is the rapist himself. At least Aiden is trying to turn his life around. I wanted forgiveness for what I did to Stefano. What kind of hypocrite would I be if I didn't show the same forgiveness to Aiden?"

Rafe shook his head. "Aiden's brainwashing you. You had reason to kill Stefano."

"And Aiden had reasons for all the things he did which, by the way, weren't half as bad as the things _I_ did. I'm just finally starting to realize that now," Hope said, looking distant.

"He's brainwashed you and you can't even see it," Rafe said.

Hope shot him a look. "Take her. I need to go to work. Make sure they both get their baths."

Rafe took Faith, not even trying to kiss Hope goodbye as he usually would do. He was too angry. It worked out well because Hope was too angry to kiss him too.

Hope kissed the twins goodbye. "You be good for Daddy. Mommy will be back after tonight."

Hope then left, without a word to Rafe. Instead, she just looked at him and shook her head in disappointment before leaving. She was tired of his paranoia toward Aiden! It was getting ridiculous!

She headed to work, hoping that, by the time she got there, she would be able to cool down.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

"I can't believe she sticks up for that jerk time and time again!" Rafe said as he carried the twins up the stairs so that he could give them their baths. "She's always sticking up for him and trying to make _me_ out to be the bad guy when in reality, it's Aiden who is the scum that can't be trusted."

He walked into the bathroom. "It's ridiculous!"

He looked at the two baby bath tubs that sat within the tub itself. Still angry with Hope, he gently set the twins down on the bottom of the tub, then yanked the baby tubs out of the bathtub, and tossed them to the floor of the bathroom. If Hope wasn't going to respect him around Aiden, then he wasn't going to respect her wishes on how to bathe the twins. They were eight months old now and could sit up on their own. There was no reason they couldn't be washed in the regular tub!

He put the plug in, and turned on the water, making sure it was just the right amount of warmth. He placed the twins so that they were sitting side-by-side with their backs against the back of the tub. He then waited for the tub to fill with a decent amount of water.

As he waited, he kept thinking about Aiden, and how Hope was always sticking up for him lately. Always running into him…

He took out his cell phone and dialed up an old friend from the FBI. "Hey, James…. It's Rafe. Yeah, longtime no talk to! Listen, there's someone I want you to investigate for me. I think he may be a danger to my wife and twins…" He looked over his shoulder at the twins who were playing with their rubber duckies that they always liked to hold onto when they took their baths. The bath water was only to their heels.

He then left the bathroom for a moment just so that he could hear James over the sound of the running water.

"Yeah, Aiden Jennings. Yup! He's the same one that has caused my wife all that trouble in the past. I swear I don't know what she ever saw in him or how she ever could have married that guy. Can you see what you can dig up on him? Thanks. I'd appreciate it. The Cubs? Yes! I say we go for another win. They did it in 2016, so they can do it again." He laughed at a joke his friend told about the coach. "I know, right? Well, I better be going now. I have to give my twins a bath. Yeah, who would have ever thought I'd be a dad to twins? I love it though, I really do. I wouldn't change it for anything. All right. Thank you for doing this for me. I'll talk to you later. All right. Bye." Rafe hung up the phone, then headed back into the bathroom.

His heart jolted when he saw both twins lying face down in the tub, the water covering half their heads. "No!" he screamed.

He ran over and quickly yanked them both out of the tubs. Their bodies were limp. RJ's eyes were wide open, and Faith's were shut.

"Oh, no, no, no, no, no! Please God, no!" Rafe yelled. He used his elbow to turn off the water, then he carried the twins out of the bathroom and gently laid them on their backs on his and Hope's bed.

He felt for a pulse and then for breath. Their little hearts weren't beating, and their breaths couldn't be felt.

"No! Please, God, no!" he screamed.

He gently tilted their heads back, and then immediately began to breathe into their mouths. Next, he gently pumped their little chests. He would go back and forth between RJ and Faith and breathing and pumping. He'd breathe in RJ's mouth, and then breathe in Faith's mouth. He then used one hand per twin and pump their chests. Then, he went back to breathing. Nothing was working. He quickly dialed 911.

"My twins aren't breathing! They are only eight months old! They fell face down in the tub! Please, help me!" he answered the second someone had picked up. He gave his address, then hung up on the 911 operator, and immediately went back to CPR.

"I won't let you die!" he said to the twins. "Please God, don't let them die!" Rafe cried out, tears streaming down his cheeks as he frantically pumped at their chests, again, one hand per twin. "Please, God… Please don't let them die…"


	13. S1E13

_**This Love…**_

 _ **Season 1 Episode 13: Slipped Away**_

The ambulance came within five minutes, but Rafe knew they were already too late. He had tried; boy how he had tried; but he couldn't manage to revive the twins.

The EMTs only confirmed it.

"I'm sorry," the male EMT said, looking as if his own kids had just died. "They're gone."

"No!" Rafe said. "No, they can't be gone!" He was sobbing now as he knelt down beside his lifeless children, their little lips purple and their skin as cold as ice.

"How did this happen?" the female EMT asked quietly.

Rafe looked at her with tears in his eyes. "I only walked away for a moment! I checked before I left and the tub water had barely just begun to fill the tub. It only went to their heels!"

She placed her hand over Rafe's shoulder. "You'd be surprised at how quickly the water can fill a tub up, and how fast children can drown—especially when they are still little. We found two baby tubs on the floor. Why weren't you using those?" Her tone was gentle, but Rafe knew she was frustrated at his carelessness. He didn't blame her.

Rafe looked away in shame, the tears still streaming down his face. "I thought eight months was too old to still be using baby tubs," he said quietly. He had to admit to himself, he had did it partly out of spite toward Hope. He had just been so angry with her! But he had never in a million years thought she had a legitimate reason for wanting to keep them out of the big tub. Why hadn't he just listened to her?! He hated himself! He would never forgive himself for this. Never!

"Since there are deaths involved, we're going to have to call the police. It's just protocol. Don't worry, okay?" she said gently.

Rafe nodded. "I know. I'm a cop. Can you let me call, please?" He sniffled. "My wife is also a cop and she's at work right now. I can't let her hear this through somebody else."

She nodded. "Of course." She then stood up and gave Rafe some privacy.

Rafe grabbed his phone and dialed up Hope's number wish shaking hands.

"What is it, Rafe? I'm busy working," she sounded annoyed. He guessed she was still angry about their earlier fight. Things were about to get even worse….

He sighed. "I'm going to need you and Roman to come to our house. There's been an accident."

Hope sounded frantic already. "Accident? What's wrong? What happened? Are the twins okay? Are _you_ okay?"

Rafe burst into tears. "I'm sorry! I can't say it over the phone. I just can't!"

"Rafe! Rafe, you tell me right now! What's wrong?" Hope ordered; the panic clear in her voice.

Rafe sobbed even harder. "They're dead, Hope! Our twins are dead!"

Rafe heard a loud crashing sound. He guessed it was her phone dropping to the floor.

"Hope?" he asked.

He heard Roman's concerned voice in the background. There was chaos on the other end.

Rafe sobbed some more and clicked off his phone. He then went back over to his limp children and cried over their bodies.

 _ **~*came back to me*~**_

Hope ran into the house. "Rafe! Where are my children? Where are they?"

"Hope…" Roman was right behind her, as was JJ and Shawn. Hope had dropped her phone and fainted. It had scared the hell out of Roman. Once she had come to a moment later, she was frantic, saying Rafe told her that her babies were dead.

Roman had called Rafe, but he hadn't answered. Hope had then taken off without warning. Roman knew it was best that he, Shawn, and JJ came along for both backup and support.

Hope called for Rafe and the twins, looking through every room. Finally, she came upon the master bedroom and saw her babies lying on the bed. "No!" she covered her mouth. She tried to run over to them, but the EMTs got in her way.

"I don't think that's such a good idea," the male EMT said.

"Get out of my way!" Hope snapped, roughly pushing him away.

The female EMT stepped aside, understanding that Hope had to see her children no matter how much it hurt.

Hope dropped to her knees, and placed her hands over them. They were both so cold… So cold! "My babies! Not again! Why? Why, God, why do you keep taking my children away from me?" she yelled Heavenward. She then whipped her head around looking for Rafe. She saw him sitting on the floor, his back against the wall as he sobbed, his face buried in his hands. "What happened to them? How did they die?" Her voice held a tone to kill.

Rafe looked at her, his eyes red and bloodshot. "I went to give them their baths. I left the room to make a phone call. The water had only just begun to fill. I wasn't gone long! I didn't think it would fill up that fast!"

"How could they drown in their baby tubs?" Hope asked. "And why was the water running? You're supposed to just sponge bathe them in those tubs!"

Rafe looked at the floor. "I didn't think they needed them anymore. I took the tubs out and bathed them in the regular tub."

"After I told you not to? Are you kidding me? I told you I didn't feel comfortable with them being in the big tub! It was for that very reason, and yet you still didn't listen to me! Yet again you thought that you knew better than I do!" Hope snapped.

"Mom, it's okay. Just calm down," Shawn said, gently trying to soothe his mother. He placed a hand over her shoulder.

Hope roughly shook his hand off. "My babies are dead, Shawn. It is _not_ okay!" She glared at Rafe. "It's because of him that they are dead! He chose to listen to his own instincts over mine yet again, and now look what happened!" She looked at Rafe with contempt. "Then you walk away with the water running, leaving two eight-month-old babies alone in the tub while you make a phone call? Are you kidding me right now?"

"Who were you calling?" Shawn asked Rafe.

"It's not important," Rafe said quietly.

"Our twins died because of that phone call! You're going to tell us who it was!" Hope snapped.

Rafe sighed. "I was on the phone with my friend from the FBI."

"What for?" Hope asked coldly.

Rafe was quiet.

"Answer my mother, Rafe," Shawn ordered.

Rafe looked at Shawn, and then Hope, who were both giving him a look to kill. He sighed. "I was asking him to investigate Aiden." He looked at Hope. "I didn't trust him to not hurt you and the twins. I needed to see who Aiden really was."

Hope shook her head. "And yet by doing that _you_ hurt the twins! You not only hurt them, you killed them! Did you talk about anything else?" she asked coldly. "I'm just trying to get a timeline on this thing; on how long you left our twins unattended I the bathtub with the water running."

Rafe looked away. "We briefly talked about the Cubs." He then looked back at Hope. "But the Cubs talk was literally only for thirty seconds or less!" He hadn't wanted to confess any of this, but he knew better than to lie to Hope. Not lying to each other was one of the things they prided their relationship on. He especially prided himself on it because it made him the opposite of Aiden.

Hope was surprisingly calm for a moment. Then, she slowly got up from where she had been sitting on her knees beside the twins, and walked over to Rafe. "Stand up, please," she said quietly.

Rafe did as told. He extended his arms to her, thinking she needed a comforting hug.

Boy was he surprised when Hope reached out and punched him hard in the mouth, causing him to fall backwards. She then spit on him. "It's because of you and your stupid paranoia that our twins are dead!" she snapped.

She then ran back over to the twins, laid down beside them, and, holding their little cold and lifeless hands in her own, began to sob, and sob, and sob with no stopping.

"Mom, please don't cry," Shawn said, tears in his own eyes as he knelt down beside her and placed a hand over her upper back.

It only made her cry harder.

Roman and JJ came back into the room now, just having finished investigating the bathroom. They then walked over to her, and laid their hands on her in comfort.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

When the coroner arrived, it took Roman, Shawn, and JJ—all of them— to hold Hope back. She hadn't wanted the coroner to take them.

"Mom, he has to take them. I'm sorry," Shawn said, holding his sobbing mother close. "They're gone, Mom. I know, it hurts. You cry all you want. You need to get it out."

"I'm so sorry, Hope!" JJ said, tears trickling down his own eyes.

"We're going to get you through this, Hope. We will," Roman promised her. He then walked over to Rafe. "I'm going to need your statement of exactly what happened."

Rafe nodded. He then followed Roman out of the room and, once they were in the hallway, told him everything that had happened.

"Am I going to get in trouble for this?" Rafe asked.

Roman shook his head. "It was an accident. I don't see any need to take any further action. I know that for the rest of your life having to live with the pain of what happened is punishment enough."

Rafe nodded. "Trust me, I will never, _ever_ forgive myself for this! And it _was_ an accident! I planned on coming right back. My phone call was no longer than a minute. I thought I'd just make it quick then come back in and bathe them. I checked before I left the bathroom and the water wasn't that deep! I swear!"

"That is why you are never supposed to leave small children unattended in the bathtub. The water fills up way faster than you think," Roman said.

Rafe shook his head. "I just don't understand what happened. Did they slip? I mean, their backs were against the back of the tub, and they knew how to sit up on their own."

Roman sighed. "JJ and I think we figured out what happened."

Rafe looked at him, both wanting to know and not wanting to know at the same time.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

Meanwhile, Hope had finally stopped crying. She sat up straight and looked at JJ. "How do you think it happened? How do you think they drowned?"

JJ looked uncomfortable. "I don't know…"

"You and Roman investigated, didn't you?" Hope asked.

JJ nodded.

"Well, then you must have _some_ idea. I know you're both thorough."

JJ sighed. "We saw rubber duckies in the front of the tub, toward the direction which Rafe says they fell. We're guessing they were playing with their rubber duckies. The ducks got away from them, they both reached for them, fell on their faces, and couldn't get back up." He looked away. "I'm sorry," he said in practically a whisper.

Hope sobbed some more. "All they wanted to do was play with their duckies!" She sniffled. "None of this would have happened if Rafe had just listened to me!"

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

Meanwhile, back in the bathroom, Roman had just explained the same theory to Rafe.

"Oh my gosh…" Rafe walked into he bathroom and over to the tub.

Roman followed being him.

Rafe took the ducks out of the tub. He turned them around in his hands, before throwing across the wall, causing them both to squeak. "Damn it, this is all my fault!" he yelled.

"You're damn right it is!" Hope said.

Rafe looked over at the bathroom doorway, where Hope was standing.

Her arms were crossed over her chest, and her eyes were narrowed at him. "I hate you, Rafe Hernandez! I hate you, and I'll never forgive you for this!" she yelled. Then, with a sob, she took off.

"Hope, wait! Hope, please!" Rafe called out, trying to run after her.

Shawn came into the bathroom then, stopping him from following her. "She needs time alone. Just give her some time," he said calmly.

"But I'm her husband!" Rafe said. "They were my kids too! She needs me. We need to mourn together."

"Now is not the time for it. Trust me! I know my mom. She needs time to cool off first," Shawn said.

"Do you hate me too?" Rafe asked Shawn.

Shawn looked at him. He hesitated, but then slowly shook his head. "No. I know accidents happen. I just wish you hadn't been so stupid, Rafe! I mean, leaving two eight-month old babies alone in a tub with the water running while you made a phone call? Really, Rafe? Really? Why didn't you at least turn the water off while you made the call?"

Rafe shook his head. "I wasn't thinking, all right? I was stupid—so stupid, I get it!" He looked at Shawn. "Trust me, I'm never going to forgive myself." He then ran out of the bathroom to mourn the loss of his twins in the peace of his own bedroom. He slammed and locked it behind him.

Roman nodded toward Shawn and JJ. "Come on. Let's get back to the station. Like Hope, Rafe needs this time to be alone."

The two men nodded, then the three of them left looking sadly back at the house before locking and shutting the door behind them.

 _ **~*came back to me*~**_

Rafe sat on the bed replaying over and over in his mind, leaving the twins alone in the tub. "Why didn't I just turn the water off?" he asked himself. He knew it was because he didn't think the water would get that high. Still… Just to be safe he should have. He also should have trusted Hope's instincts he knew. After all, Hope knew what she was talking about. He never had kids before, but she had kids before, and therefore had plenty of experience when it came to what one should and shouldn't do when it came to raising kids.

He hated Aiden even more now. If Aiden had just stayed out of their lives, then he wouldn't have felt the need to investigate him. He wouldn't have had to call his FBI friend. Then, the twins wouldn't have drowned.

He took out his phone and dialed Hope's number for the fifth time since she left. For the fifth time, it went straight to voicemail. He had left a voicemail the first couple times, but now he knew there was no use. He had lost his twins forever, and now, because of his carelessness, he may have just lost his wife forever too.

He climbed out of bed and headed out of the house. He needed a drink!

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

Aiden just got back from a session with Marlena. He had gotten out of work at five, had his five-thirty to six-thirty session with Marlena, stopped at the cemetery to quickly visit Chase, then picked up some fast food for dinner. He had headed back to his condo then, and now arrived back at close to seven-thirty.

When he got there, he was startled to see Hope sitting on the floor outside his door, her hands buried in her face.

"Hope?" he asked gently.

She looked up, tears streaming down her cheeks, and her mascara running.

"What are you doing here?" he asked gently. "What's wrong?"

She sniffled, then stood up. She looked at him like she wanted to say something. Then she burst into tears. "Oh Aiden!" She ran over to him and embraced him.

"Hope…What?" Aiden was shocked to say the least. He had no idea what was going on. He embraced her the best he could with a fast food bag in his hands. "Hold on. Let's get inside, okay?" he said gently.

Hope pulled away from him. She nodded. "I'm sorry." She sniffled, and whipped some tears from her eyes.

"Don't be. I just need to set this bag down." He unlocked his door and let her walk in first. Then, he set his keys and food down on the lampstand next to the door.

He shut and locked his door, then turned back to Hope. "What's wrong, Baby?" He hadn't meant to call her baby. It had just slipped out.

Hope didn't seem to notice. "They're gone, Aiden. My twins are gone!" she said in almost a whisper.

Aiden looked at her in confusion. "What do you mean gone? Did someone kidnap them?" He was startled.

Hope shook her head. "I wish that's all it was."

"What could be worse than kidnapping?" Aiden asked; confused. "Unless… No. Hope, tell me they're not dead!"

Hope nodded. "They are! My twins are dead, Aiden!" She burst into tears again.

Aiden's face went pale. "What? How?"

"Rafe wasn't watching them and they drowned in the tub!" Hope cried even harder.

Aiden finally shook himself out of his shock. "Hope, Baby, I'm so sorry! Come here!" He held out his arms to her.

She collapsed into his arms, crying.

Aiden held her close and started to cry too then, both because of the loss of the twins, and also because Hope was in so much pain.


	14. S1E14

_**Days of our Haiden**_

 _ **Season One Episode Fourteen: 3AM**_

"Are you hungry? You can have my cheese burger and fries if you'd like. I just picked them up from Burger King on the way home," Aiden said as he handed over to his fast food bag and held it up to her.

Hope shook her head. "No, thank you. I'm not hungry. You go ahead and eat though. I won't be offended."

"I don't mean to sound uncaring; stuffing my face at a time like this," Aiden said, sitting down on the couch beside her.

Hoe shook her head. "No. Go ahead. Eat. I'll feel bad if I stop you from eating."

"Can I at least get you a drink?" Aiden asked, heading to the kitchen. He poured himself a soda. "I wave soda, water, orange juice, milk, white grape juice… I'm kind of staying away from the alcohol after the other night."

"Maybe a water please," Hope said.

Aiden took a bottled water out of the fridge and then headed back out into the living room.

He handed her the water, then sat down next to her and began to eat. "Do you mind telling me how it happened? You don't have to if you don't want to. I'm just trying to grasp everything."

"We got into an argument over RJ calling you Dada. I left for work, and before I left I told Rafe to bathe the kids. He decided to bathe them, only he didn't want to bathe them in their baby tubs. I told him before I don't trust them in the big tub yet, but he was so sure of himself! As usual, he was so sure that he knew better than me. So, he took the baby tubs out, and put the twins in the big tub. He placed their backs against the back of the tub. They could sit up on their own now, so he handed them their rubber duckies and thought they would be fine."

"Wasn't he watching them?" Aiden asked.

Hope shook her head. "He turned the water on and, since the water was only to their heels and didn't seem to be filling up that fast, he went to make a call."

"What call could have been that important? And why didn't he just wait until after the call to turn the water on?" Aiden asked.

Hope shook her head. "Who knows why he didn't turn the water off first? As for the phone call, he was so worried that you were out to hurt me and the twins that he called his FBI friend to put out an investigation on you."

"What, like hire a private detective to follow me?" Aiden asked.

Hope shook her head. "I think more like dig up information on you."

Aiden turned to Hope. "Hope, I would never ever hurt you! I mean, I know emotionally hurt you, and I planned to kill you, but… I couldn't go through with killing you and… and I'm getting help from Marlena. I never want to hurt you emotionally ever again! As for the twins, never would I ever have hurt them! I don't care that Rafe is their father. I would never have taken my feelings for Rafe out on them."

Hope nodded. "I know," she said quietly. She had tears in her eyes again.

He reached out and gently dried them with his thumbs. "Maybe it's _my_ fault. If I had just stayed out of your life and not come back, then Rafe wouldn't have felt the need to investigate me. Then the twins…" He trailed off.

"Hey!" Hope looked him in the eyes. "Rafe is the one to blame. He is the _only_ one to blame; not you, all right?"

Aiden nodded, then set down the remainder of his burger and took her into his arms. "I still love you, Hope. I never stopped. I know you don't love me anymore, but I promise to still be here if you need me. Whenever you need to talk, or whenever you need a shoulder to cry on, I'm here for you."

"Thank you. I appreciate that." Hope rested her head on his shoulder and sobbed just a brief moment. Then they stayed like that for a minute in silence.

Eventually, Hope pulled away. "Can I use your bathroom?"

Aiden nodded. "It's right down the hall to the right."

"Thank you," she said.

Once she had gone to the bathroom, Aiden quickly finished his dinner and ditched his trash. He took his now empty glass to the dishwasher, and left Hope's hardy touched water on the coffee table.

When Hope came back out of the bathroom, she sat down next to Aiden again. "I don't want to go back to my house tonight. I can't be in the house where my twins died—not tonight. I also don't want to see Rafe yet. I don't want to be alone though, and I don't want to stay at Shawn's. He'll just keep asking me if I'm alright, and keep trying to get me to talk. He might even make me talk to Rafe."

"You can stay at my place. I have an extra bedroom," Aiden offered. "I mean, if you feel comfortable enough with that."

"That would be great, thank you," Hope said.

"The sheets are already clean. No one has used the bed since I moved in," Aiden assured her. "Would you like one of my shirts to sleep in?" He nodded toward her dress shirt and dress pants. "That doesn't look too comfortable to sleep in."

Hope pushed some hair behind her ear and nodded. "That would be nice, thank you," she said quietly.

"I'll be right back." Aiden then went to find a shirt for her to wear. He ended up picking an incredibly soft grey t-shirt that had always been huge on him. It was made of cotton and jersey and perfect for sleeping.

He headed back into the living room and handed it to Hope. "Here. It's really comfortable for seeping. It's big on me, so it should fit you about right."

Hope smiled weakly at him as she took the shirt. "Thank you. I appreciate your kindness."

"I'd do anything for you, Hope. You should know that by now," Aiden said gently to her.

She looked away. "I'm not really tired yet. My mind is racing." She looked at him. "Would I be a horrible person if I told you I wanted to play a game or watch a movie to help take my mind off things?"

Aiden shook his head. "Not at all!"

"It's just that, I've been crying all day long. I don't know if I have any tears left in my eyes to cry. I need to distract myself before I go insane from all the pain," Hope explained.

"Why don't you go get ready and I'll find something for us to do, okay?" Aiden said gently, his hand over her upper back.

Hope nodded. "Okay," she whispered. "I might as well text Shawn that I'm safe while I'm at it—just so he doesn't worry. And Ciara… Gosh, I don't know how I'm going to tell her. She probably already knows. Hopefully Shawn can be there for her because I just can't right now."

"I'm sure he will be," Aiden gently soothed.

She then headed into the bedroom to change and text Shawn, and Aiden tried his best to think of something they could do that wouldn't upset her.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

He decided a movie might be too dangerous. He didn't know what movie to pick that wouldn't trigger something in Hope to make her feel worse. Heck, even a comedy could have something as innocent as twins in it that could set her off. So, he decided upon Scrabble. It was a safe game to play.

He changed into some blue and green plaid pajama bottoms and a navy blue shirt, then made some popcorn.

Hope came out in his shirt. It went to the middle of her thighs.

Aiden looked at her and instantly felt weak in the knees. The things seeing her in nothing but his shirt did to him… "I made popcorn. I know you said you weren't hungry, but I think it's a good idea for you to eat a little something at least."

Hope nodded. "Thanks. I guess I could eat some. Can I please have a soda? I like soda better with popcorn. I try not to drink too much soda, but certain things that I eat, I prefer soda with." She sat down at the table, then smiled at him. "Scrabble?"

"Pepsi okay?" he asked her.

Hope nodded. "That's perfect. Thanks."

"Is Scrabble okay with you? We can play something else if you'd like," he said.

"No, Scrabble's fine. I'll set it up," she said.

"I thought of a movie, but I didn't want anything in the movie to trigger your sadness," he said as he came into the dining room with their sodas.

She smiled weakly at him and took her soda from him. "You're sweet. Scrabble should be fine. It will keep my mind occupied, trying to find words to put down."

Aiden went back into the kitchen, put the popcorn in a big bowl and salted it, then brought it back into the dining room. He set it on the table, then sat down across from her.

"Thanks," Hope said.

"So, I'll let you go first since I'm so good at this game. You'll need all the help you can get!" he teased.

"Excuse me, but I'll have you know, I used to play this game a lot with my dad when I was growing up. I beat him more times than he beat me, even though he had been in this world longer and knew more words than I did at the time!" Hope said.

"He clearly must have let you win. I'm gonna cream you on this!" Aiden scoffed.

Hope raised an eyebrow at him. "We'll just see about that now, won't we? Care to put a little wager on it?"

Aiden nodded, and raised an eyebrow at her in return. "What did you have in mind?"

Hope thought about it for a moment. "How about this? The winner gets to have the loser say whatever the winner wants the loser to say no matter how embarrassing it is."

Aiden nodded. "Sounds good to me! Prepare to be embarrassed!"

Hope smirked. "We'll see who's embarrassed."

Aiden smirked as well. "Indeed we shall."

Hope had a mischievous glint in her eyes as she looked at him. "You go first." She popped some popcorn into her mouth.

Aiden nodded. "All right," he said. "But don't say I didn't warn you." He winked at her and grinned.

Hope rolled her eyes, but smirked at him before taking a sip of her soda.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

Hope raised an eyebrow. "Conversate? That is so not a word!"

Aiden nodded. "Sure it is!"

Hope crossed her arms over her chest. "Then put it in a sentence."

Aiden shrugged. "All right. I'm an introvert, so sometimes trying to conversate makes me nervous."

Hope rolled her eyes. "I believe the right word would be _converse_!"

"I'll look it up!" Aiden said, taking out his phone.

Hope smirked. "You do that."

Aiden pulled up the online dictionary and searched for the word. His face fell. "It's right here!" he said, starting to put his phone away.

"Wait a minute! Let me see it!" Hope said, holding out her hand to him.

"Can't you just take my word for it?" Aiden asked.

Hope held out her hand and moved her fingers up and down in response.

Aiden sighed. "Okay, it's not there! You were right. It's converse."

Hope smirked. "I would think a lawyer would have known that!"

Aiden rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah, whatever. But I can still do converse, so there!"

Hope pouted. "No fair! I helped you out on that one!"

Aiden shrugged. "That's the way the cookie crumbles!"

Hope shot him an annoyed look. "Whatever!"

They grinned at each other.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

"Are you going to finish sometime today, Grandpa?" Hope taunted Aiden as he desperately looked for a final word to add to the board.

"Hey! I'm younger than you!" he reminded her.

"Details, details," Hope said.

Aiden looked a moment more, then gave up. "I can't go, and there are no more letters to pick from the bag. I'm done."

"I have two more letters," Hope said to him. She put them on the board right away to complete the word "and". She had placed the letters n and d. She then clapped her hands together. "I did it! I got rid of all my letters!"

"Let's tally up the points and see who won," Aiden said.

"All right, but we get to double check the other's to make sure no cheating is going on," Hope ordered.

"I trust you," Aiden said to her.

"Well, I don't trust you!" Hope teased.

Aiden's face fell.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean it that way," Hope replied.

Aiden smiled. He could tell by her tone that she was worried she had hurt his feelings. "I'm not a cheater, but go ahead. You can confirm your lose if you'd like it."

Hope rolled her eyes. "You're full of it even after I used all my letters and you didn't!"

"That doesn't necessarily mean I lost," Aiden reasoned.

"Yeah, we'll see," Hope said, confident in herself.

So, they tallied up their scores.

"Two hundred!" Aiden said proudly.

Hope smirked. "Two fifty!"

They traded papers and added them up. They got the same results.

"Yes! I am the winner!" Hope stood up and did a little victory dance.

"Yeah, yeah. Congrats I guess. What embarrassing thing am I going to have to say?" Aiden asked.

Hope tapped her lips. "Hm… Let me think about it for a minute…I got it! I want you to tell me that you are far inferior to me because I am the queen of Scrabble, and you will forever be the loser of Scrabble."

Aiden smirked. "I thought it was supposed to be embarrassing."

Hope shrugged. "I decided to be nice since you are kind enough to let me stay here tonight. Anyway, how embarrassing could anything really be when it's just the two of us, right?"

Aiden nodded. "True. All right. You are the Queen of Scrabble. I am far inferior to you because I am the Loser of Scrabble."

"Forever. Don't forget forever!" Hope reminded him, a smirk on her face.

Aiden sighed. "I will forever be the Loser of Scrabble!"

Hope laughed. "That's better!" She then looked sad just like that, as if someone had just flipped a switch. She looked at Aiden. "Am I a bad person for playing games and laughing on the same night my children died?" She had tears in her eyes. "I just wanted a distraction. This sadness…It's killing me."

Aiden felt his heart sink. "Oh, Baby, you're not a terrible person at all! Come here." He pulled her in for a tight hug.

Hope quietly cried against his chest for a moment. She then looked him in the eyes. "I think I need to go to bed now," she said.

Aiden nodded. "All right. I'm here if you need anything. Goodnight."

Hope blinked back tears. "I don't know if I'll ever have a goodnight again."

Aiden felt his heart break as she headed into the spare bedroom and shut the door behind her.

He put the popcorn bowl and their dirty glasses away, then brushed his teeth and went to the bathroom before turning out all the lights and climbing into his own bed.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

There was a knock on Aiden's bedroom door.

Aiden looked at his bedside clock. It was three in the morning. "Yes?" he asked, his voice tired.

"Aiden, it's me. Can I come in?" Hope called out timidly.

"Sure." Aiden wondered what Hope could want.

Hope came into the room and shut the door behind her. "Can I sleep in here with you? I woke up so sad, and I just don't want to be alone."

Aiden moved over and patted the spot beside him. "Of course." For some reason, even though it was chilly out, his room always remained warm. He supposed he just had good heating vents. Anyway, he had taken his shirt off earlier in the night. He was going to look for it now that Hope was in the room, but he was too tired to go searching for it in the dark.

Hope crawled in to bed next to him; not seeming to mind his bare-chestedness. "I know this must be weird for you. And I'm sorry I'm waking you so early. I just didn't want to be alone," she said, tears in her eyes and her voice shaky.

"Hope, you need me right now. I don't care how late or how early it is, I'm here for you." He gently wiped her tears away with his thumbs. "You know I'd do anything for you, Hope. You may not be in my world anymore, but you're still always going to be my world."

Hope got the same look in her eyes that she had when she had kissed him the first time, so this time Aiden saw it coming. She leaned in and kissed him passionately on the lips.

He hungrily kissed her back. He couldn't help himself. He didn't think he'd ever be able to push her away when she kissed him.

She broke the kiss and gently held his face between her hands. "Make love to me, Mr. Jennings. Please? I want you to make love to me."

Her kissed became more passionate as she tried to pull him on top of her.

It was the hardest thing Aiden ever had to do to stop her from doing so. "We can't. You're still with Rafe," he said. The words tasted like vinegar in his mouth.

Hope looked at him with desire in her eyes. "Forget about Rafe! _I_ have. He killed my twins."

"But they were his twins too, and it was just an accident. You're angry now, but you might regret this later once you've cooled down. I think you need to talk to Rafe. Let your anger subside, then talk to him. This is something you can't just walk away from without taking to him first." Aiden kind of liked being delusional better. Being the voice of reason wasn't any fun. However, for once he was going to do what was right for Hope. He was going to think of Hope's feelings over his own. Though, in a way, he was also looking out for himself, he supposed. He didn't want to finally make love to her again only to have his heart broken by her eventually forgiving Rafe and going back to him.

Hope looked at him with tears in her eyes. "Don't you want me anymore?"

Aiden gently wiped her tears with his thumbs again, and gently stroked her cheek, feeling his heart break again. "You know I do. You have no idea how much I still want you."

"Then have me. I'm all yours," Hope said, trying to get him to make love to her again.

Yet again, Aiden stopped her. "Baby, no. Not like this. You need to talk with Rafe, then if things end up not working out, I will be right here waiting to show you exactly how much I want you. But I can't be with you right now; not like this. Not when you're still in mourning."

Hope sighed. "Can you at least hold me until I fall asleep?"

"Baby, I will hold you for the rest of the night," Aiden assured her. "Come here."

He pulled her closer, and she lay her head on his chest.

He then stroked her hair like he used to do when they were together, and he kissed the top of her head.

"Thank you," Hope murmured.

"Anytime," Aiden said; meaning it.

"You didn't let me win tonight, did you?" Hope asked, looking up at him.

Aiden shook his head. "I thought about it, but I knew that would just make you mad. Besides, when it comes to points, it's kind of hard to cheat anyway."

Hope smiled, then laid her head back on his chest. "True." Her fingers lightly grazed over his chest.

Together they lay like that. Hope quietly sobbed off and on through the night, and Aiden was there to hold her close, stroke her hair, give her soothing words, and kiss her lovingly on the head.

Eventually, sleep was able to take them both until mid-morning.

 _ **~*came back to me*~**_

"Good morning, Beautiful," Aiden said. He had woken first, and watched her sleep. Now, her eyes had just fluttered open.

She smiled weakly at him. "Good morning."

"Are you hungry? I have bacon," Aiden said, wriggling his eyebrows up and down.

Hope laughed. "That sounds wonderful. Thank you."

Aiden started to leave, but Hope gently grabbed him by the arm.

He looked back at her.

"I just want to thank you for being there for me last night. I appreciate that you didn't take advantage of me. I know that must have been hard for you," she said quietly.

"As much as I wanna be with you Hope, I don't want it to be like that. I want us to both truly want it," he said gently.

"I appreciate that," Hope said.

Aiden smiled at her. "I'll go make that breakfast."

"Thank you," Hope replied.

Once he had left, Hope sighed, and took out her phone. She looked at her missed calls. Rafe had called her several times. She picked up her voicemails.

" _Hope, its Rafe. I'm so sorry. I can't even express… I don't blame you if you never forgive me for being so stupid, but please, Hope. We need to talk!"_

 _"Hope, it's me again. I'm sorry. Please, when you feel like talking, please talk to me. I'm your husband, and they were my kids too. I'm hurting as much as you are."_

Hope hung up her phone. She had to talk to Rafe. As angry as she was with him, she could hear the pain in his voice. She knew the twins' death had been an accident. It was a reckless and careless accident that never should have happened, but Rafe was hurting too—maybe even more than she was seeing as he had been the cause of their death. Also, he was her husband, and he had done so much for her even before they were married. The least she could do was talk to him.

She knew what she had to do.

Aiden came into the bedroom then with a plate full of buttered toast, scrambled eggs, and of course bacon. He also had an orange juice.

"Thank you," she said as he handed them to her.

"I know you like over medium eggs, but I never quite grasped the concept on how to make those," he said with a blush. "I added cheddar to them at least."

Hope smiled. "It's all right. I love scrambled eggs to—especially with cheese. Thank you. I decided I am going to talk to Rafe after breakfast."

Aiden nodded. "Good!" As much as it pained him to see her go back to Rafe, he knew that it had to be done—at least for now.

"I do trust you now," Hope said as she ate.

Aiden looked at her. "Hm?"

"Last night when I said I didn't trust you… I meant in Scrabble and you thought I meant in general," she explained.

"I'd understand if you didn't trust me in general. It's not like I ever gave you a reason to trust me in the past," Aiden said quietly.

Hope reached out and gently took his hand. She rubbed the back of his hand with her thumb. You gave me plenty of reason last night as to why you can be trusted now."

Aiden shrugged. "But I didn't say anything…" He trailed off.

Hope slowly leaned in and whispered in his ear, "Actions speak louder than words."

She smiled at him, and he smiled back at her.

"Aren't you going to eat?" she asked him.

"I didn't make mine yet. I wanted to make sure I got you fed first," he confessed.

"You're so good to me. Well, at least have some bacon. There's a lot here." Hope held out a piece of bacon to his mouth.

He ate it. "Mm… Bacon is so good…"

They then grinned at each other.

Hope then continued to eat her breakfast, letting Aiden share more of her bacon.

 _Well,_ he thought to himself, _if anything, at least we're on good terms again._ He supposed he should just be thankful for that. And, he was.


	15. S1E15

_**This Love…**_

 _ **Season 1 Episode 15: I'll Remember**_

Hope stood outside the church. It was early October now. It had been a week since the twins had died. They were finally having the funeral.

Rafe came up behind her and put an arm around her. "It's going to be okay," he said.

"I don't know if I can do this," she whispered. She sniffled, and dabbed her eyes with a tissue.

"We'll get through this together," he said quietly.

Hope nodded. She thought back to a week earlier when she had come home to talk to Rafe, following her night with Aiden.

" _So, where were you last night?" Rafe asked. "I was worried. Shawn said all you told him was that you were safe, and wouldn't be coming home tonight."_

" _I stayed at Aiden's," Hope said simply. She placed her purse on the lampstand beside the door._

" _You stayed at Aiden's?" Rafe sounded angry, but he knew better than to say anything more._

" _Do you have a problem with that?" Hope asked coldly, her eyes daring him to say he did._

" _Please excuse me if I seem a little worried over you spending the night at your ex-husband's place. Despite how I feel about Aiden, I think I have a right to be concerned," he said carefully._

 _Hope narrowed her eyes at him. "After you caused the death of our twins, I'm not sure that you have the right to be anything but sorry, Rafe."_

" _And I am! I am_ so _sorry, you can't even begin to know how sorry I am!" Rafe said._

" _Yeah, well, sorry won't bring our twins back, will it?" Hope asked._

 _Rafe looked away, and was speechless for a moment. Then he looked at her again. "Did you sleep with him?"_

 _Hope looked at him. "Wouldn't you like to know?" She wanted to make him suffer even if it was only for a moment._

" _Hope…" Rafe trailed off, looking both angry and sad all at once._

" _Relax! I didn't sleep with him. I kissed him…and I slept in the same bed with him, but that is it," she confessed._

" _That son of a bitch! I'll kill him!" Rafe said, in Neanderthal mode, heading straight for the door._

 _Hope placed a hand over his chest; stopping him from going any further. "Don't you even_ think _about going over there and hurting Aiden! You're going to kill him? Really, Rafe? You mean like you did our twins?"_

 _Rafe stopped, and looked at her. "I know what I did was despicable, but it was an accident. Please don't insinuate that I did it on purpose," he said in a surprisingly calm tone._

 _Hope instantly felt bad. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that. I'm just really getting tired of you responding to everything in anger. You always want to use your fists. As a cop, you need to be more even tempered!" she scolded._

 _Rafe held his hands up in defense. "Fine. I'm calm. You only slept in the same bed with your ex-husband, and you kissed him. Why should I be mad, right?"_

" _For your information, I was hurting, and I was mad at you. I needed some comfort," she explained._

" _And I'm sure he was more than eager to give it to you!" Rafe snapped._

" _Actually, I wanted to take it further than kissing. I would have had he not stopped me. He told me that he wouldn't have me; not like that. He said it was important that I talk to you first. He said that you are hurting as much as I am," Hope explained._

 _Rafe shrugged. "It's just another manipulation to make himself look like the good guy."_

 _Hope let out a cry of frustration. "Ugh! Then you wonder why I get so angry with you! No matter what Aiden does, you're determined to see him as the bad guy!"_

" _It's because of him our twins are dead. Had he just stayed out of our lives and stopped stalking you, then I wouldn't have had to call my friend to investigate him. Then, then twins would still be alive," Rafe said simply as he crossed his arms over his chest._

 _Hope took a deep breath and slowly let it out before she spoke. If she hadn't tried to calm herself down first, she would have had another murder on her hands. "Rafe," she said as calmly as she could manage, "I don't think it's a good idea right now for you to be putting the blame on anyone but yourself."_

 _He nodded. "You're right. It was all on me, and I'm sorry." He then looked at her with tears in his eyes. "But, Hope you can't let this end our marriage! I made a mistake. In fact, it wasn't just a mistake. It was a mistake to end all mistakes. It caused the life of our two children just because I let my damn paranoia get in the way. It happened because I was too damn stupid to think to turn the water off first. It happened because I felt I knew better than you, and I wanted to do things my way. I had just been so angry with you that day that it made me spiteful. I'm an idiot, and I don't think I'll ever be able to make it up to you. I'm forever going to have to live with knowing that I caused the death of our twins. They are dead because of me and my stupidity. But, Hope, please don't leave me! It's already unbearable to have lost my twins. I couldn't live if I lost my wife too!"_

 _Rafe ran over to her and got down on his knees and hugged her legs as if he were groveling. "Please, forgive me. Please stick by me. We've been through so much together! I helped cover up a murder and hide the body for you. I got you out of the tunnels after that explosion. I was willing to go to prison for you. I helped get you out of prison. Please, Hope. Please just give me one more chance and stick by me like I stuck by you!"_

 _Hope had looked at him, tears in her eyes. He was right. He had done so much for her. True, she hadn't killed their children out of carelessness, but she had still killed a man. It hadn't been an accident when she killed him either. She knew Rafe was going to be punished for the rest of his life as it was._

 _She sighed. "I'm still angry with you, and it's going to take me some time to fully forgive you and move on from this, but…I'm not going to leave you."_

 _Rafe stood up. He took her face between his hands. "Promise?" he asked._

 _Hope nodded. "I promise."_

" _Thank you so much! You're more than I deserve; I know that!" Rafe said. He kissed her passionately on the lips, her face still between his hands._

 _She kissed him back, but only halfheartedly. She found herself thinking about kissing Aiden instead of Rafe._

 _Rafe broke the kiss. "And don't worry about the Aiden thing. If you can try to forgive me for the twins drowning, then I can certainly forgive you for one little kiss."_

 _Hope suddenly felt guilty. "About that… I kind of kissed him once before when he was drunk. He was saying such nice things to me that I felt sorry for him. Also, a part of me was touched. I kissed him. I instantly regretted if after though. I'm sorry I initially lied and told you nothing happened that night."_

 _Rafe paused for a moment, then he slowly nodded. "All right. As long as it doesn't happen again, I'm willing to look past that. But I do have to know, were both of your clothes still on when you slept next to him?"_

 _Hope nodded. "He had pajama pants on. He wasn't wearing a shirt when I came into his room. He must have taken it off. As for myself, I was wearing my underwear, and an oversized shirt of his," Hope replied._

 _Rafe nodded. "I can live with that. I don't like that he wasn't wearing a shirt, and I suspect he did it on purpose, but I can live with it."_

 _Hope shook her head. "He didn't even know I was going to come into his room. I assure you, it wasn't planned. Look, I'm done talking about Aiden. We need to start making funeral arrangements for the twins."_

" _We don't have to do that today. They just died yesterday. We can take some time to grieve first," Rafe assured her._

 _But Hope shook her head. "No. I need to keep busy. I need to plan a nice memorial service for my babies. I'll call the father and see when he is available for a service."_

 _Rafe nodded. "All right. If that's what you want…"_

 _Hope looked at him. "It is." The sooner they had the service, the sooner she would be able to try to pick up the pieces of her broken heart and try to heal._

Everyone was heading into the church. They hugged Hope along the way in.

"How are you guys holding up?" Kayla asked, hugging first Hope then Rafe, tears in her own eyes.

"I'm barely holding on, Kay," Hope said.

Rafe nodded. "It's so hard to get through each day without them."

"Come on. We'll go in together," Kayla said.

Hope nodded, and they all walked in together with their arms around each other, Kayla in the middle of Hope and Rafe, her arms around her two mourning friends.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

As soon as Hope walked in, she saw the two giant photos at the head of the church on each side of a little coffin. It was unconventional, but she had decided she wanted the twins to be buried together. She felt that this way, they'd never have to be alone. She knew it was silly. It wasn't actually them; it was just their bodies. But it made her feel better, and Rafe had agreed to it.

The coffin was made slightly wider so that the twins could lie side-by-side. It was special made. That is why it took a week to have the funeral. They needed to wait for it to be completed.

RJ was on the left, in a baby blue suit with a white t-shirt underneath the little jacket that read, _Forever Loved_ in blue, and Faith was on the right in a little lacy pink skirt paired with a white t-shirt that read the same thing only it was written in pink. They had their rubber duckies in the casket with them.

Hope and Rafe had been torn. A part of them wanted to keep the rubber duckies in memory of their twins, but then another part of them was too sad to keep them, knowing that it was because the twins were reaching for their rubber duckies that they had died.

Rafe and Hope both thought it was more fitting to let them have the duckies they loved, and had been reaching for. Besides, they had other things of the twins' that the twins liked. Hope and Rafe would keep those things in memory of the twins instead.

The picture that was hanging up of Faith was one of her first smile. She was smiling so big and had a shirt on that said "Mommy and Daddy love me".

The picture of RJ was one of him laughing at something. Hope didn't even remember what anymore. His shirt read, "The next big thing."

Hope began to sob then.

Rafe and Kayla both hugged her. Shawn and Ciara came over to her too, as did Steve, Roman, and JJ. She was now enveloped in a wall of loved ones.

It took her several minutes to be able to stop crying.

Eventually, they stepped away from Hope, for it was soon time for the funeral to start, and for them to take their seats.

Hope was about to sit down when she heard someone clearing their throat.

She looked up and saw Aiden standing there looking at her, his eyes sad.

She then ran into his arms, and cried on his shoulder as he held her close and gently stroked her hair, much to Rafe's dismay.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

"I'm so sorry," Aiden murmured in her ear. "I know the pain you're going through. Believe me."

"I know," Hope whispered. "Thank you for coming."

"I wanted to be here to show my support. Not coming wasn't an option," Aiden said to her.

Hoped squeezed him tightly, then it was time for them all to take their seats. It was time for the funeral to begin.

Aiden took a seat in the second row, not wanting to impose by sitting in the front row.

As he watched Rafe put his arm around a sobbing Hope, he couldn't help but feel a twinge of sadness, not only at the loss of the twins, but at the loss of Hope again. He had been stupid, he realized to even hold out the tiniest bit of hope that Hope would leave Rafe for him. When she had kissed him again last night and wanted him to make love to her, a little part of Aiden had actually believed she would leave Rafe. But now that she hadn't, his hopes were crushed yet again. He began to wonder if coming back to Salem had been a mistake. He should have just moved to Newport Beach, California, where his sister and her husband and kids lived, he figured. Oh, well. Too late now. His son was buried here, and he had a new business now.

The funeral began with the priest talking about the day he had christened the twins, and then the priest went into what adorable and sweet babies they were. He talked about what good parents Rafe and Hope were.

Aiden couldn't help but think that in the end, Rafe hadn't been such a good parent after all. Though, he did feel guilty at the thought. Accidents could happen. He knew Rafe never would have harmed them on purpose. He would have given his own life for the twins if he could have, as any decent parent would.

Claire then went up and sang a beautiful rendition of Mariah Carey and Boys II Men's "One Sweet Day".

After that, Kayla went up and read a scripture passage, ending in Revelation 21:4. "And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away."

Hope sobbed some more, and even Rafe was sobbing this time as they rested their heads against each other's; their arms around the other.

The priest then gave a brief sermon about death, and the hope of the resurrection. He read passages of the Bible as well; passages about death and eternal life in Heaven.

They then had a moment where people could come up and tell stories of the twins.

Doug and Julie came up and told a story of how Doug had once passed gas loudly, which had scared RJ and made him cry. Faith, on the other hand, had laughed; finding it hilarious.

"You would think it would have been the other way around!" Julie said. "Usually the boys laugh at gas, and the girls think it's gross!"

Everyone laughed.

There were other random, yet cute stories about the twins. For only being eight months old, they had sure brought a lot of joy into people's lives.

Steve told a story of how he had been holding RJ one day when RJ tried to pull the patch off.

"I told him, 'Little Dude! Someone already took my eye. I'm sorry, but I'm not letting you take my patch too!' He probably would have pissed his diaper if he had seen what was behind the patch. Either that, or barfed all over my shirt."

Everyone laughed.

He then blushed and looked at the priest. "Sorry. I'm in a church. I guess I should have said peed instead of pissed, huh?"

"I'll let it go this time," the priest said with a wink and a smile, which caused more laughter.

Hope and Rafe went up together and told a variety of quick things about their twins.

"RJ was always mischievous like me. He loved doing things like peeing or pooping after I just changed him, and crying loudly when I was trying to watch the Cub's game. Then, whenever the Cubs would lose, I'd cry with him," Rafe said.

The audience laughed again.

Hope took the more sentimental approach. "I used to love rocking them in their rocking chair. They loved to be rocked. I am a horrible singer, but whenever I sang to them, they would look at me with such love in their eyes and drift off to sleep. I fell even more in love with them for both putting up with my singing, and for falling asleep during my lullabies instead of when most people do, which is while I'm talking."

Again, the audience laughed.

"I just can't believe I'm never going to be able to hold them in my arms, rock them, and sing to them again! I'll no longer see them look at me with love in their eyes. I'll never see their smiles, or hear their laughs again—at least not here on earth. I'll never see then grow up! It's like losing Zack all over again, only this time I had them even less time with them!" Hope burst into tears again. Doug, Julie, and Rafe helped her off the stage, and to back to her seat.

"Does anyone else have anything they'd like to share about the twins before we move on?" the priest asked.

Aiden raised his hand.

"Come on up, Aiden," the priest said.

Everybody turned to look at Aiden as he got up to talk.

He cleared his throat; suddenly very nervous. "I didn't know the twins for very long seeing as I just got back to town in June, but from what little I saw of them, I could already tell how sweet they were. I babysat them one time when Hope and Rafe were in a jam. Boy were they a handful!" He thought he'd get some laughs, but he didn't, so he continued. "But they were such sweet little angels. They drank their bottles like good little babies. There was a little incident where I forgot you need to watch out with boys when you change them. I ended up getting peed on all over my shirt—compliments of RJ. I had to wash it. Boy, let me tell you, for one little boy he sure had a big bladder!"

Aiden was relieved when he did get a few laughs this time. He continued. "I sang the twins a lullaby I used to sing to my son. Like they do with Hope, they went right to sleep. They are precious as it is, but when they sleep… Let me just say that looking at them is proof there is a God. Only God could create something that sweet and precious! I know without a doubt that God would not create two precious little souls like that only to take them to hell." He shook his head. "No. I know that as Catholics, we believe that believing in Jesus dying for our sins is what gets you to Heaven. RJ and Faith were too little to know about Jesus, but I know that God does not judge babies. He would not blame them for not being able to comprehend who His Son is yet. They are in Heaven now in Jesus' arms, more loved than you could ever imagine, and just waiting for that day when they will finally be reunited with their parents. But, until then, they are happier than any of us could ever dream of being here on earth. After all, how could they not be when they are in the arms of Jesus? He's the ultimate Caretaker after all."

Aiden was going to mention RJ calling him Dada, but he knew that would just upset Rafe, so he let it be, and walked off the stage after saying, "Thank you".

His eyes met with Hope's on the way back to his seat.

Hope mouthed the word "Thank you" to him.

He mouthed back "You're welcome", and took his seat.

The funeral then ended with Chloe singing "It Is Well with My Soul". It had every person in the room crying. Even Aiden had tears streaming down his cheeks as he remembered how sweet the twins were.

The priest said a few parting words, and after Hope, Rafe, Doug, Julie, Shawn, and Ciara gave the twins one last kiss on the cheek and tearful, whispered goodbyes, the funeral was over.

JJ, Steve, Roman, and Shawn who were the pallbearers, closed the casket, and headed out of the church.

Kayla, Doug, Julie, Ciara, Jen, and of course Rafe led a crying Hope out of the church. Aiden wanted to be there for her, but knew she was already well taken care off.

He headed over to the cemetery, and waited for everyone else to arrive.

Aiden looked at the tombstone. It was in the shape of an angel draped over a heart that had, _Gone but never ever forgotten_ written on it above their names, birth, and death dates.

Once everyone was there, the priest said a few words, then quoted scripture again before saying the typical parting words as he gently sprinkled dirt over their now lowering casket. "Ashes to ashes and dust to dust. God be with you always."

Everyone then took turns placing white roses for innocence over the twins' grave.

Aiden placed his two white roses—one for each twin—and blew a kiss to the twins.

Hope collapsed on the ground, crying. Rafe immediately knelt down beside her, a hand over her back, gently rubbing her back and talking to her soothingly.

Aiden watched Rafe comforting her, wishing that _he_ could be the one comforting her instead. Then again, today wasn't about him, he knew. The twins weren't his and Hope's; they were _Rafe's_ and Hope's. And now it was Rafe's and Hope's time to mourn and comfort each other.

Hope looked back as if sensing Aiden's eyes on her. She ever so slightly nodded at him.

Aiden nodded at her in return, then turned around, and left the cemetery.


	16. S1E16

_**This Love…**_

 _ **Season 1 Episode 16: You've Got a Friend**_

It was mid-October, and Rafe and Hope both had the day off. It was the evening, and Hope felt lost. She just couldn't get used to not having to feed the twins, or dress them for bed, or change their diaper. She missed the sounds of their voices.

"So, I was thinking I could make us a couple of cheese burgers. We have the hamburger meat that needs to be used up. I know that technically as long as it's frozen, it will keep for as long as you need it to keep, but I don't know. I still feel weird about not using it up within the first week," Rafe said; seemingly oblivious to how Hope was feeling. "Is that all right with you? I think we still have some frozen fries in there too that we can have, and then we can have that leftover blueberry pie that Kayla brought over the other day for dessert."

Hope nodded. "Whatever you decide to make is fine."

Rafe sighed, and walked over to where she was sitting down on the couch. He sat down beside her. "What's wrong?" He gently rubbed her back.

She looked at him in surprise. "What's wrong? Rafe, or twins died just three weeks ago. How can you even ask me what's wrong?"

Rafe looked at the floor. "I'm sorry. You're right. I guess I'm just trying to not think about it. These past few weeks have been hell. I just want to take a break from the pain is all."

Hope felt a little guilty. Her expression softened, and she placed a hand over his thigh. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have snapped. Everything just feels so wrong! We're talking about what _we're_ going to eat instead of what the twins are going to eat. We have no more formula or baby food for them. We have nothing! We even gave their highchairs away to The Salvation Army. I know they're gone now, and they don't need any of that stuff, but I still feel guilty; like I'm neglecting them."

Rafe continued to gently rub her back. "I understand. I kind of feel that way too. But it's only been a few weeks. We just need to give it more time."

Hope looked away. "All the time in the world can't make me stop missing them."

Rafe shook his head. "Me neither. I just mean that, in time, maybe the pain will lesson a bit, and then it won't feel as weird to not feed them, change them, or put them to bed and what not."

Hope shrugged, then looked at him. "Maybe," she said, though she wasn't sure she believed it.

"I can try to get the highchairs back if you're not ready to part with them just yet," Rafe offered.

Hope shook her head. "No. It's fine. The twins don't need them anymore. We would have gotten rid of them eventually anyway even if the twins hadn't died. This way they can be given to parents who might not normally be able to afford highchairs."

Rafe gently stroked Hope's hair, and even more gently pulled her head over to his lips. He kissed the top of her head, then released her. "I'll go make dinner." He then got up and headed to the kitchen.

Hope sat back on the couch and sighed, knowing that, as hard as they tried to get things back to normal, nothing was ever going to be the same again.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

Meanwhile, Aiden sat down for dinner alone at the pub after his session with Marlena. So badly he wished that Hope was sitting in front of him, smiling and pushing some hair behind her ear as she told him something funny that had happened at work that day. He'd laugh with her, and tell her without naming names of course, about a client who was upset because his mother died and left everything to her dog, and the client wanted to detest the will.

Hope would laugh, and they'd talk about how the son must be a pretty bad person if his mother would rather give all her riches to the dog than her own son.

"Penny for your thoughts?" Amy asked, sitting down across from him at the table. She set her purse down next to her on the table.

Aiden looked at her. "I'm surprised you're not at the café."

Amy shrugged. "It's a slow night. They can handle the place without me for a while. I'm starved and wanted to get dinner. I certainly wasn't going to get it at the café. You know, once you work at a food place—even if you own it—you kind of get turned off from eating there. I mean, I'm there day after day, evening after evening, and night after night… I get sick of my own food!"

They both laughed.

"I can understand that," Aiden said with a weak smile.

"By the way, you're welcome," Amy said.

Aiden looked at her in confusion. "For what?"

Amy smiled. "For calling Hope and sending her your way when you were drunk. How did that work out for you, by the way?"

"That was you that called her?" Aiden asked in surprise. He couldn't remember if Hope had told him that or not.

Amy grinned; looking quite proud of herself as she nodded vigorously.

"She was very kind to me and took care of me. I had one hell of a headache the next morning. I don't remember much about that night other than throwing up. I was so drunk," Aiden answered.

Amy rolled her eyes. "Tell me about it! You sat down on the ground in front of a table of customers. I could have killed you!"

"A part of me sometimes wishes you had," Aiden said sincerely.

Amy looked sympathetic. She gently reached over and pat his right hand. "Chin up! It couldn't have gone _that_ bad, could it?"

Aiden sighed. "She kissed me."

Amy covered her mouth and smiled. "Excuse me?"

"She kissed me," Aiden repeated. "I told her how she is my world, or whatever it was I said. I don't remember exactly. Then she kissed me."

Amy laughed. "Oh my gosh, that is too funny! Usually it's the man taking advantage of the drunken woman; not the other way around."

"I kissed her back," Aiden said, in his own way trying to defend Hope. "She didn't really take advantage of me. I truly wanted it."

Amy smirked. "Apparently, she did too. So much for her being happily married! That was even before her cute little twins died, wasn't it?"

Aiden nodded, feeling sad at the mention of the twins' deaths. "Apparently, she didn't want it as much as you think." He looked Amy in the eyes. "She went back to Rafe even though it was because of his neglect and not listening to her that the twins died. It's my own fault, really."

Amy scrunched her eyebrows in confusion. "How is her going back to Rafe your fault? You're not _that_ bad of a kisser. In fact, you're quite the wonderful kisser!" She winked at him and flirtingly made a clicking sound with her tongue in jest.

Aiden only half smiled. "She wanted to give Rafe the kiss off and not talk to him, but I told her she needed to talk with him." He sighed. "I know it was the right thing to do. She probably would have gone back to him eventually anyway."

The waiter came then and they both gave him their drink orders. The waiter then went off to get them while they continued their conversation.

"When did you tell her to talk to Rafe? Heck, when did she tell you she wanted to give him the 'kiss off' as you put it?"

Aiden sighed. He knew he really shouldn't be telling her all of this, but he hadn't felt right telling Marlena about it since she knew Hope. It felt good finally being able to tell someone. It being someone that wouldn't judge him and would be unbiased made it all the more appealing. "She came to my apartment and waited for me to arrive home after having earlier come home to her place to find out her twins were dead. I came home and saw her sitting in front of my door, tears streaming down her cheeks."

Their drinks came and Amy took a long sip of her Cosmo. "We'll be ready to order I just a moment," she told the waiter. The waiter left, and she turned her attention back to Aiden. "Well, tell me the deets!"

Aiden shrugged. "There's not much to tell. I let her in and got her a drink of water. She cried on my shoulder. We talked a bit. Then we had popcorn and sodas and played Scrabble."

Amy smirked; an eyebrow raised. "Scrabble? Really? Her twins just died and you're playing Scrabble?" She laughed. "Now I've heard it all." She took another sip of her Cosmo and closed her eyes; savoring it. "Mm! I'm going to need another one of these."

Aiden shrugged. "She needed something to take her mind off things. She won the game and it made her happy at first, but then she felt guilty for having fun the night her twins died. I got her a shirt of mine to wear to bed. She didn't want to go home to Rafe, and she didn't want to be pestered by her son. I don't know where Ciara was. Anyway, she came into my room in the middle of the night, heartbroken. She needed me to comfort her. To make a long story short, she asked me to make love to her. I refused because I knew she wasn't in the right headspace and would regret it in the morning. I told her she needed to talk to Rafe, and she eventually agreed."

Amy shook her head while still nursing her Cosmo. "That woman is crazy for letting you go. You're crazy for her and you don't take advantage of her. Most men would have been all over her."

Aiden nodded. "Trust me, it took everything within me to do the right thing and not ravish her right then and there." He then blushed. "I'm sorry. Is this weird for you seeing as we used to date and I wouldn't…" He trailed off, blushing bright red, and too embarrassed to say it.

Amy smirked. "Because you wouldn't sleep with me? Forget it. I'm totally over it. I have my eye on the new waiter at the café now—Tony. Good Lord, the guy's even hotter than you are! No offense."

Aiden shook his head. "None taken." He smirked; glad she was able to move on so quickly from heart break. At least that made one of them.

Amy raised an eyebrow at him. "You don't mind me eating with you, right?"

Aiden shook his head. "Not at all! In fact, I could use the company."

She smiled at him, and pat his hand again, then flagged down the water with a hand motion and a whistle. "Yoo-hoo! Waiter! Over Here! We're ready to order our dinner now. And by the way, I'm going to need another Cosmo."

Aiden smiled, and shook his head. He could see she was the same old spunky little Amy she was when they dated. He guessed some things never changed.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

After dinner, Hope and Rafe sat on the couch watching an action movie marathon that was on TV. Hope watched cuddled up in Rafe's arms with her head against his chest.

After a while, the current movie ended, and another one started that they had both seen before and hated.

Hope sat up straight and Rafe clicked the television off. "So much for that!"

Hope looked around. "It's actually dark in here. It's time to turn the lights on already. It gets dark so quick in the fall." She went to get up off the couch and turn the lights on, but Rafe gently grabbed her arm and pulled her back down. "Or we could pretend like it's a blackout. You know, like it was when we had our first time together?" he murmured, pulling her closer. He pushed some of her hair to the side. "That night also started with us watching an action movie, if I do recall correctly." He kissed down her jaw line.

Hope smiled weakly and nodded. "It did," she said quietly.

Rafe looked at her with desire in his eyes. "What do you say we try to recreate that night, hm?" He began softly kissing her on the mouth before she could reply.

She began kissing him in return, her hands around the back of his head, her fingers gently pressed into his hair.

Rafe then picked her up, and started to carry her up the bedroom.

Hope continued to return his kisses even up until he had laid her down on the bed. However, when he tried to remove her shirt, she put a hand out to stop him. "Rafe, stop. I'm sorry. I can't."

Rafe looked at her in surprise. "Why not?"

"I'm not ready yet," she said.

Rafe paused. "Is it because of the twins? Are you still too sad to…to be intimate?" he asked gently.

Hope paused for a brief moment, then nodded. "That and…" She didn't know how to say it.

Luckily, she didn't have to. Rafe looked away. "It's also because you still can't fully forgive me for being responsible for the twins' death," he said simply.

Hope gently placed a hand over his cheek. "I'm sorry. I know it was an accident. I know you never would have intentionally killed our children—not ever! But I still just don't feel right making love to a man who only three weeks ago wasn't watching our children when he should have been, therefore causing their deaths. I'm so sorry." She had tears in her eyes.

Rafe stood up, and walked over to the light switch. He turned it on. "Don't be sorry. I'm the one who should be sorry, and I am." He looked at Hope. "Do you think you'll ever be able to get past this? I'm willing to give you as long as you need. I just need to know that eventually, you _will_ get over this."

Hope sat up too, and gave him a weak smile. "Thank you for understanding. I'll get past this. I promise." She then got up and walked over to Rafe before pulling him into a tight hug.

Rafe hugged her tightly back, relaxing a little in her arms.

Hope wasn't feeling quite so relaxed. She knew she could eventually forgive Rafe one day—maybe even soon. But did she still want to stay married to him? That she didn't know.

She broke the hug. "I want to go visit the twins' graves."

Rafe nodded. "Okay, we can go right now. Let's go."

But Hope lightly placed her hand over his chest. "No, I need to do this alone. Please."

Rafe nodded. "Whatever helps you is fine by me. Take all the time you need."

Hope nodded, and gave him another weak smile. She then softly kissed his lips, then headed downstairs to get her coat, shoes, and purse.

 _ **~*came back to me*~**_

Aiden had had a nice dinner with Amy, and hugged her afterward; glad that they could still be amicable with each other. She had then gone back to work, and he had gone to his office to check up on the progress of the renovations he was having done. So far things were right on schedule. The walls he had needed taken out had been taken out, and the new walls he wanted put up had been put up. The painter was due to come out the next day to paint them.

After checking on his office, he decided to go visit Chase at the cemetery. However, he stopped at the café first to get a hot chocolate. He wasn't in the mood for coffee since he had just had one with his dinner, but on that chilly October day, a hot chocolate sounded perfect.

"Long time no see!" Amy said with a smirk when Aiden ordered his hot chocolate.

Aiden smirked. "Yeah, I decided to get a hot chocolate and go see Chase."

"I saw Hope walk into the cemetery like five minutes ago. She didn't come out yet," Amy said with a wink. "And Rafe isn't with her this time."

"Really?" Aiden asked.

Amy nodded. "Really! Here." She got two cups of hot chocolate ready, and handed them to him. "Here. Take one to her. They're on me as a thank you for paying for my dinner tonight."

"You don't have to pay," Aiden said to her. "I was happy to pay for your dinner."

"I know. I want to. Anyway, it helps me out. I am getting rid of chocolate!" She made a disgusted face. "I honestly don't know how you two can love that stuff!"

Aiden laughed, then held one of the cups up as if toasting her. "Well, thank you."

"You're very welcome," she said in a sing-song voice as she moved onto the next customer.

Aiden shook his head, and smiled at her oddness, then headed into the cemetery.

He found Hope of course, sitting in front of the twins' graves. "Sorry to interrupt, but it's so cold out, I figured you might want a hot chocolate." He held out a cup to her.

Hope looked up at him in surprise. She then smiled, and took the cup from him. "Thanks. How did you know I was here?"

"I didn't. I was getting one for myself on the way to see Chase, and Amy told me she saw you head into the cemetery."

Hope rolled her eyes. "That girl is such a busy-body."

Aiden nodded. "That she is, but she did pay for both our hot chocolates, so she's not all that bad. Of course, I did pay for her dinner, but still…"

Hope raised an eyebrow. "Her dinner? Are you two back together?" She sounded a little alarmed.

Aiden shook his head. "No. We just both happened to be there, and didn't want to eat alone. I'm still not into her, and now even she has set her sights on someone new—the new waiter at the café—Tony."

Hope shook her head. "God help him!"

Aiden laughed. "You really don't like her, do you?"

Hope shook her head. "Nope! I'm sorry, but there is just something about her that rubs me the wrong way." She looked at Aiden. "You deserve much better."

"I had much better with _you_ , Hope. Now that I don't have you anymore, there's no use in trying. I'm not going to find anyone better than you, and life's too short to settle." Aiden was feeling a little down now. He looked at the twins' grave. "Way too short." He leaned down and kissed their headstone. "Rest in peace, little ones, in the arms of Jesus and the angels." He then looked at Hope. "I'm going to go visit Chase now. I'll leave you to your privacy." He then left.

He went over to Chase's grave, and carefully sat down in front of it. He grunted. "Wow, I'm getting too old for this! You know you're old when you have trouble just bending down to sit, right?" He grinned at Chase's gravestone.

"Oh, I don't know about that! I think you just need to exercise more and get into better shape," Hope said, appearing beside him and easily sitting down next to him.

Aiden looked over at her. "It's a good thing you have a woman's voice; otherwise I would have had a heart attack thinking my dead son had just answered me!"

They both laughed.

"You know, no matter how sad I am, you always find a way to make me laugh," Hope said, leaning against him.

Aiden looked at her. "I love to make you laugh. Not only does your beautiful smile come out, but I get to hear your beautiful laugh that means I caused you joy. I know I haven't caused you much joy in the past. I always thought our relationship was a happy one despite my lies, but I know now it wasn't as happy for you as it was for me."

Hope raised an eyebrow. "Says who?"

"Well, back when you were so angry with me before I left Salem, you seemed to think we never had any good times in our relationship," Aiden said simply.

"I was angry. I wasn't thinking straight. Looking back now, I can admit that those were some of the happiest times in my life. You were the first man since Bo that I fell in love with. You helped me heal when I thought that Bo had abandoned me. I'll always be grateful to you for that."

"And you showed me what true love it. I'll always be grateful to _you_ for _that_ ," Aiden said. "Well, it was true love for _me_ , anyway."

Hope gently stroked his cheek. "It was true love for me too," she whispered.

"And yet, you're back with Rafe now," he said.

Hope sighed. "He's done so much for me. I owe it to him to at least fight for our marriage and try to get past what he did."

Aiden was going to say that he wished she had fought for _their_ marriage and tried to get passed what _he_ did, but he didn't want to ruin the moment. He guessed he didn't blame her. After all, he had lied to her time and time again. However, was lying really worse than causing the death of her children?

"You know, I felt the pain from losing Zack, but it wasn't as strong after so much time had passed. Now that the twins have died… I feel your pain over losing Chase now. I mean I _truly_ feel it!" Hope then said. She sniffled. "Funny thing is, I used to hate hearing them cry so loudly when I was trying to do some things around the house or sleep, and now there's nothing I wouldn't give to hear their cries again no matter how loud."

Aiden held her tightly as tears welled up in her eyes. She didn't cry this time, but the tears were still there. Together they stayed like that in silence for a while, sipping their hot chocolates. Then, Hope eventually stood up. "I guess I better be going now. Thanks for bringing me the hot chocolate. I'll suck it up and thank Amy on the way home."

Aiden smiled at her and stood up. "I'm here for you if you ever need to talk."

Hope nodded. "I know, and back at ya!" She hugged him tightly. "Goodnight, Aiden."

"Goodnight, Hope," Aiden said.

Hope then surprised him by placing a hand over Chase's gravestone. "I forgive you," she whispered to it before taking off.

Aiden understood it that she had finally forgiven Chase for raping Ciara. Chase would have been so touched, he knew.

He watched from a distance as Hope said goodbye to her twins. She kissed the top of their grave like he had, and ran her hand over it, then she left the cemetery.

Aiden did the same to Chase's grave. "I love you, Son. I'm glad Hope finally forgave you. I'm glad she finally forgave us _both_. Heck, maybe you can put a favor out there to God and Jesus and ask them to send Hope back to me? I know she's a married woman, but she was married to me before Rafe. Surely that's got to count for something, right—especially since I'm atoning?" He grinned. "Can't blame me for asking, right? See you tomorrow. Have a goodnight." He then took off, the wind swirling leaves around Chase's grave as he left.


	17. S1E17

_**This Love…**_

 _ **Season 1 Episode 17: Monster Mash**_

It was the last week in October, and Halloween was nearing. The town square was holing a big Halloween bash complete with a costume party. Aiden wanted to go even though he knew he'd be going by himself. He didn't have any friends in town other than Amy, and she would be catering the party.

He decided to go anyway. At least he'd have a friendly face there, he figured, even though she would be working. He mainly wanted to go for Chase's sake. Chase had loved Halloween. It was one of his favorite holidays. Actually it _was_ his favorite holiday. He loved to dress up and stuff his face with candy. He lived for it. Or at least, he did and he had.

So, Aiden headed into the local Halloween store, and searched around for a costume. The place sold a lot of couple's costumes, but of course, those wouldn't fit for him.

There were a lot of clown costumes, but he had always hated clowns ever since he was a kid. Chase had been the same way.

There were Joker costumes, but he didn't feel like slathering on green makeup all over his face.

He walked past ninjas, kings, vampires, and werewolves, and stopped when he got to pirates. He saw a Captain Jack Sparrow costume. _Pirates of the Caribbean_ had been one of Chase's all-time favorite movies, and Captain Jack Sparrow was one of his favorite characters of all time. He had to get it.

He chose his size, and then picked up the accessories to go with it that weren't included like the fake facial hair (no time to grow his own), plastic (yet realistic-looking) sword, and black eye makeup.

He then checked out, and left the shop.

He wondered if Hope was going to be going to the party too. He was sure that if she did show up, she'd be with Rafe.

He dreaded the thought of what couple they would go as.

 _ **~*came back to me*~**_

"I decided to pick the costumes out this time," Rafe said to Hope as she came home from work. Rafe had had the day off, but Hope had gotten called in. She didn't mind. She wanted the distraction.

Hope set her purse and keys down on the stand beside the door, and took her coat off. She draped the coat over a chair, and nodded toward the Halloween store bags on the couch. "I see you've been shopping while I was at work." She smirked. "It's usually the other way around!"

Rafe laughed. "I know, right? But I know that square is having the big Halloween bash, and I wanted to make sure we actually got costumes that I liked to wear this year."

Hope sat down on the couch next to the bags. "I didn't know we were going to that."

Rafe sat down next to her. "Come on, Hope!" His tone was gentle. He gently stroked her cheek. "It will do us some good to get out. Besides, you love dressing up for Halloween. Don't you think this will be a good place to go to get our minds off the twins?"

Hope sighed, then slowly nodded. "I guess so." She put on her best smile. "So, what did you get us? And you better not have gotten me anything too sexy. You know, like those costumes that make you look like a prostitute more than they do the person they are actually supposed to be?"

Rafe smirked. "I thought about it, and I should have after you made me wear that skirt two years ago! Roman still doesn't let me live that one down!"

Hope shrugged, and looked upward, a smile on her face. "That's what all the finest men wore back in that day." She grinned at him. "I for one thought you made a very sexy Mark Antony."

"Well, I for one didn't feel very sexy! Even so, I decided to be kinder to you than you were to me, so… I go you this." He took out the costume bag and handed it to her.

Hope looked at it, and her eyes lit up. She smiled at Rafe. "This is perfect and beautiful!"

Rafe grinned. "Just like you!"

Hope blushed, and looked back down at her costume. It was Little Red Riding Hood only, a magical, classy looking one. There was a red velvet hood outlined with an intricate and beautiful pattern. It had a matching red velvet skirt that went down to the floor (as did the cape). The blouse was kind of like a puffy pirate's blouse, only the sleeves only went to just above her elbows. She had form-fitting brown arm cuffs to cover the rest of her arms. There was also a brown vest that looked like it was from the Victorian era—almost corset style.

"And I got you this to go with it." Rafe took out a little hand basket lined with a red and white checkered pattern. "I figured you can use your own shoes. It won't matter what you wear with it since they won't really be seen," Rafe explained.

Hope hugged him from her spot on the couch. "It's so beautiful. I love it! Thank you."

Rafe grinned a goofy grin at her. "You're welcome! I'm glad you like it."

"So, what are you going to be?" Hope asked him, an eyebrow raised.

"Why, I'm going to be the big, bad wolf of course! Not the Three Little Pigs' big, bad wolf, but Little Red Riding Hood's big, bad wolf of course," Rafe said. He pulled out his costume and showed it to Hope.

Hope covered her mouth and laughed. It consisted of a furry adult onesie that was made to look like the body of a wolf (tail attached), a pair of "wolf hands" that went on like gloves, furry shoe covers that looked like wolves' feet, and a furry and realistic looking wolf mask. "Will you be able to see and breathe with that on?"

Rafe put it on. "Yep! Perfectly fine," he said, his voice slightly muffled from the mask.

Hope laughed some more. It felt good to laugh. "I can't believe you had a problem dressing like Mark Antony just because he wore a skirt, yet you have no problem at all wearing a tailed onesie, wolf hands, wolf feet, and a wolf mask!"

Rafe grinned. "At least as the big, bad wolf, I'm a badass!"

Hope nodded. "True, but Mark Antony fought battles. He was pretty badass himself!"

Rafe scrunched his eyebrows and made a face. "Somehow I just can't take him as serious badass when he's wearing a skirt."

Hope rolled her eyes. "Typical male." She grinned nonetheless. "Thank you for getting these for us. You're right. I think a costume party will be fun. It will take our minds of things for a while, like you said it would.

Rafe blew onto his fist and rubbed it against his shirt. "I'm _always_ right!"

Hope laughed. "You wish!" Though, there was a part of her deep inside that wasn't laughing because she knew that Rafe truly did think that he was always right. And that was the problem between them. That is what had caused the twin to drown.

She shook the thought from her head and looked at her costume again. "I'm going to go try this on!" she said with an excited grin.

Rafe grinned too. "I'll try mine on as well, then we can call Shawn over and mess with his head."

Hope laughed. "I'm _so_ up for that!"

They raced each other up the stairs.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

Halloween night had finally arrived, and Aiden admired himself in the mirror in full Captain Jack Sparrow attire—guy-liner and all. He rubbed his chin. "You are quite the handsome fellow, aren't you?" he asked himself in his best Captain Jack Sparrow accent.

He laughed. "Oh, Chase, I think you'd really get a kick out of seeing me in this getup, wouldn't you?" he asked in his normal voice.

He grabbed his credit card and driver's license and stuck them in his boot since the costume had no pockets for his wallet. Then he headed out, wondering what the night would hold for him.

He stopped at the cemetery along the way to show Chase his costume. He slowly twirled around, giving Chase, or rather, his grave, a 360 degree view. "Do you like it? I do look quite dashing, don't I?" he asked, again in his best Captain Jack Sparrow voice.

He laughed. "I don't know if you'd think I looked cool, or if you'd be embarrassed by me," he said in his regular voice. "Well, I'm off to the party. Wish me luck! I'm probably not going to stay very long. As you know, I don't have many friends in town. I only have Amy and Hope, but Amy will be catering, and Hope I'm sure will be with Rafe, so there goes that! Maybe I'll come visit you again after the party. See you soon." Aiden then left the cemetery and headed into the square, hoping he didn't regret coming to this party.

As soon as he walked in, he saw Andre. Andre was wearing a bald cap that had tuffs of black hair on the sides. He also wore a long, hooded black robe with red dress shoes. In his arms, he stroked a very realistic looking stuffed orange and white cat.

"Captain Jack Sparrow! Quite the clever costume. You do look quite dashing in it," Andre said to him as he stroked the cat.

"I do, don't I?" Aiden said, not really trusting Andre, but always one to enjoy a compliment. He looked at the cat. "Oh my gosh, it's actually real!"

Andre shrugged as he continued to stroke the cat's neck. The cat was now softly purring. "You know me. I never was one to do things half assed."

Aiden smirked. "Gargamel, I take it?"

"That would be me," Andre said.

Aiden smirked. "I must say, you're perfect for the part, but still… A character from _Smurf's_ doesn't strike me as your style."

"I did it for little Thomas. Abigail and Chad put _Smurfs_ on for him a few weeks ago, and now he is obsessed. He wanted to be a smurf for Halloween and wanted his Uncle Andre to be Gargamel, or 'Gargee' as he calls him."

Aiden snorted. "Well, what do you know? Andre Dimera's heart isn't completely frozen after all!"

"I won't tell if you don't," Andre quipped.

Aiden smirked, then nodded at the cat. "The cat's a nice touch by the way."

"I even named him Azrael just like on _Smurfs_. I never would have fancied myself to be a cat person, but Thomas just loves him. Azrael is surprisingly a good cat. He doesn't ever try to run away from me, which is a plus in my book." Andre got a distant look in his eyes. "Now if only Kate would learn from the cat. She and I are on another break, you know. I hate these so-called breaks. They are pointless and she always come back to me eventually anyway."

Aiden had stopped listening to Andre. His eyes had fallen upon Hope and Rafe who had just walked into the party. Hope looked absolutely stunning in her Little Red Riding Hood costume. He felt the instant desire to kiss her. Rafe was looking better than he ever had before since his doofy face was covered up with the wolf mask.

As if reading his mind Andre spoke up. "I wonder which one was the genius to pick those costumes out. Hope looks as beautiful as she's ever looked before, as much as I hate to admit, and Rafe looks amazing too seeing as his face is completely covered. A wolf's face is a trillion times more pleasing to look at than Rafe's."

Aiden shrugged. "Whose face isn't?"

"I see your point!" Andre said.

They both laughed.

Just then, as if hearing them laugh, Hope looked over at them.

As Aiden's eyes met with hers, her expression was unreadable. He knew she was probably wondering why he was laughing with Andre Dimera of all people.

 _ **~*came back to me*~**_

"Is that Andre Dimera?" Hope asked Rafe as she watched Aiden laughing with what looked like, Andre Dimera.

Rafe looked over. "It sure is. I see Aiden hasn't changed. Now maybe you'll see it too. Look at them, laughing together. Why did either of them even come here anyway? Nobody even likes them."

"I like Aiden," Hope said absentmindedly.

Rafe looked at her. "Even after you see him laughing with Andre Dimera?"

"I'm sure he has good reason. He's changed. I know he has," Hope said.

Rafe grunted. "What's that old saying? A leopard doesn't change his spots. Aiden is that leopard. Don't be fooled again by him, Hope."

"And don't try to tell me what to do again," Hope shot back. She apologized before Rafe could reply. "I'm sorry. I've just become really sensitive to that kind of thing lately. I am my own person, and I am perfectly capable of making my own decisions."

"I'm going to go get some punch," Rafe said, as if they hadn't just had a mini fight. He started to talk away, then thought better of it and stopped. "Do you want some?"

"Sure, thanks," Hope replied, her eyes still on Aiden.

Rafe looked to see where she was looking. He shook his head, then took off for the punch.

Hope watched as Chad and Abigail arrived, pushing little Thomas (who was dressed as a Smurf) over to Aiden and Andre.

Aiden smiled down at Thomas and said something to Thomas that made Thomas smile the biggest smile.

Hope couldn't help but smile as well, despite not having heard what Aiden had said. He was so good with kids!

Andre then handed the cat he was holding to Chad, then picked up Thomas and pretended that he was going to eat him. Thomas giggled so hard, Hope could hear it across the square.

"Well, what do you know?" she said with a smirk. "Andre has a heart after all."

Andre gave Thomas' cheek a kiss, then walked off with him to show him all the professionally carved pumpkins in the square.

Chad and Abigail politely acknowledged Aiden, then headed over to the pumpkins as well.

Hope then walked over to Aiden. Now that she had a close of view of him, it made her heart race. He looked really good as Captain Jack Sparrow.

She gently nudged him. "Got any gold I can borrow?" She smiled and winked at him.

He grinned. "For a sexy lady like you, I'll share. Love your costume by the way. You're breathtaking. I mean, you always are to me, but that outfit…" He whistled. "Wow!"

Hope blushed and smiled. "Thank you. I like your costume too." She eyed him up and down again. "Guy-liner really suits you." She wanted to kiss him, but she repressed her feelings. She knew it wouldn't be right. She was a married woman and had promised herself she would at least try to work on her marriage. She owed it to Rafe. Also, a little part of her felt guilty not to. Bo had wanted Rafe for her, and Rafe had gone above and beyond to look out for her like Bo had wanted him too.

"So, Rafe's the wolf, huh?" Aiden asked.

Hope nodded, and nervously looked around, wondering what was taking him so long with the punch. She looked back at Aiden. "Yeah. So, I uh…saw you talking to Andre. What's up with that?" she asked.

"He came up to me, actually. We were bonding over our dislike for Rafe," Aiden admitted.

Hope smirked. "Why doesn't that surprise me?"

Aiden shrugged. "He's surprisingly here for a good cause. Thomas wanted him to dress up as Gargamel so he could go as a Smurf. I guess Andre's heart has unthawed. At least when it comes to Thomas."

Hope nodded. "I think Kate has melted his heart a bit. I never thought I'd say it, but Andre isn't _totally_ bad. At least not to the point his father was. What was it you said to Thomas? I'm sorry to be nosy, but I couldn't help but see the big smile he gave you."

Aiden smiled. "I told him he makes the best Smurf I ever saw."

"Aw! He's such a little cutie." Hope sighed. "It really makes me miss the twins."

Aiden nodded. "I know what you mean. Chase loved Halloween, and would have adored this party, and dressing up for it. _Pirates of the Caribbean_ was one of his favorite movies of all time and Captain Jack Sparrow was his favorite character. I chose Captain Jack Sparrow in honor of him."

Hope placed a hand over his arm. "Chase was lucky to have you as a father. I'm sure he's looking down at you now with a big smile on his face."

Aiden smiled. "I went to his grave to show him. I even did a 360 turn. It's dumb, I know, but it made me feel better."

Hope shook her head, her hand still on his arm. "It's not dumb at all."

"You were a really great mother to those twins. I can't imagine a better mother than you. They were so lucky to have you as a mom," Aiden said, looking into her eyes. He moved a little closer. He looked like he really wanted to kiss her. Hope knew the look from when they used to date. The thing was, she really wanted to kiss him too.

 _ ***Ahem***_

Aiden and Hope both broke from their thoughts and looked over to Rafe, who had just cleared his throat. He was holding two punches. Aiden was sure that if Rafe hadn't been holding two punches, he'd have given two punches of a different kind.

"Sorry it took so long. Someone spiked the punch and I had to wait for the new batch to arrive," Rafe said, looking at Hope, and then at Aiden.

"It's great not having to see your face tonight, Rafe," Aiden couldn't help but quip.

"Don't start with me, Jennings," Rafe snapped. "Go walk the plank or something," he then grumbled.

Andre came over before Aiden could reply. He laughed. "Oh, Rafael! Surely you can come up with a better comeback than 'Go walk the plank or something'!" He was holding Azrael again, gently stroking the cat's head.

"Well if it isn't your partner in crime," Rafe said to Aiden. "Planning another murder?" Rafe asked them smugly. "If you even try to kill Hope again, you'll both be dead by sunrise."

"Oh, please! That was ages ago. I've moved on, and so should you. Anyway, I wouldn't be calling people murderers if I were you…" Andre said with a smirk.

Rafe looked like he was about to attack Andre.

Hope held him back.

Andre laughed. "Why are you so upset? I was simply referring to Little Red Riding Hood's poor dead grandmother that you gobbled right up. After all, The Little Red Riding Hood wolf is the wolf you're supposed to be, I take it?"

"You were referring to the twins' death and you know it," Rafe said evenly.

"Oh, please! I meant no such thing! Far be it for me to joke about the death of two innocent little babies," Andre said calmly.

Suddenly, Azrael hissed at Rafe.

"So sorry!" Andre said. "He doesn't like rats…or dogs, and right now, you happen to be both." He then took off.

Aiden looked at Hope. "Have a good rest of your night, Hope. I'm going to go get something to eat."

Hope nodded, but didn't say anything. She was a little annoyed at him for starting something with Rafe even though Andre had been the one to taunt him the most. However, she was also annoyed with Rafe for letting Aiden and Andre get to him.

"I'm telling you, Hope, I know you don't want to hear it, but they are both bad news, and it's best you stay away from both of them," Rafe grumbled.

Hope sighed, and rolled her eyes. "Let's just go dance." She dragged him out to the makeshift dancefloor in the middle of the square, and began dancing with him to "The Monster Mash". She needed to work out her frustration if she was ever going to get through the rest of the party.

 _ **~*came back to me*~**_

"Hey, thanks for sticking up for me over there. You sure are the king of wit and comebacks," Aiden said to Andre.

Andre smiled. "What can I say? I loathe Rafe Hernandez even more than you do."

Aiden shook his head. "I don't know about that! I can't stand that smug, arrogant ass!" He then nodded at the cat. "Smart cat, by the way." He stroked Azrael's head, and Azrael began to purr and nuzzle up against his hand.

Andre nodded. "Well, I taught him well. Azrael is very good at sensing things. He knows who I like and whom I don't like and acts accordingly. Now if you'll excuse me, I shall be leaving now. I made my appearance for Thomas' sake. Now it's time for me to bid this retched party ado."

Andre then took off.

As Aiden watched him leave, he couldn't help but smile at the implication that Andre liked him. He still didn't trust Andre a hundred percent, but at this point, he could use all the friends he could get!

He then headed to get something to eat, feeling his heart race as his thoughts then went to Hope clearly having wanted to kiss him. She still wanted him. He was sure of it now. And so now, as God as his witness, he was going to do everything he could to get her back!


	18. S1E18

_**This Love…**_

 _ **Season 1 Episode 18: Up on the Roof**_

It was the third of November, and Aiden was excited to be getting the final exterior renovations of his Law Firm done today. The roof needed work, but thankfully, the damage wasn't to the point of needing a new roof. There were just a few areas that needed patching. The way Aiden saw it was, you couldn't see the spots that needed patching from down below, so there was no reason to get a new roof if the old one with patches would look and function just as well. All these renovations were expensive, and he wanted to save money where he could.

He headed to Marlena's office, for he had an early session with her, and then he would go to his new offices to overlook the construction.

As he drove to Marlena's, he thought about his new office building. His personal office now had navy blue walls with gold detailing, and a huge window with a nice view of the neighborhood. He wished he had been able to afford one of those fancy sky rise buildings with a beautiful view of the city lights, but for now, his little two-story building would have to do. It was still a nice starter building, he figured.

The rest of the firm's walls were white with Cherrywood paneling. The doors were all Cherrywood as well. He had wanted a little color in his office, so that is why he had decided upon the navy and gold for his personal office. He was quite pleased everything.

He arrived at the hospital an parked, then headed in to Marlena's office.

He gently knocked on the door.

"Come in!" She called from the other side of the door.

Aiden opened the door.

Marlena smiled at him. "Good morning, Aiden. You're right on time."

Aiden came in and shut the door behind him. He then sat down in the chair in front of her desk. "Of course I am! I would hate for any of my session money to go to waste," he joked. "And certainly not you time," he quickly added.

Marlena gave him an appreciative smile. "So, how is your morning going so far?"

"It's going all right. I'm excited to get my new law firm up and running. I'm getting all the renovations done now. I just need to find some associates now," he replied.

Again, Marlena smiled. "Well, I'm sure you'll find some good ones!"

Aiden sighed. "I wish I could get Justin to join me; maybe even as partner. Though I know that after the way I acted to him and everyone else the last time I was here, it's never going to happen. I can't believe how out of my mind I was. Everyone in Salem hates me now except for Hope and my ex turned friend Amy."

Marlena looked intrigued. "Hope? Hope has managed to forgive you?"

Aiden nodded. "She's been very kind to me. I think the situation with Stefano made her see what being in a certain mental state can do to a person."

"Well, I'm happy for you. Forgiveness can be a very healing thing for everyone involved," Marlena said with a kind smile.

"I just wish everyone else could be so forgiving. I know the way I behaved was less than acceptable back then, but now I've truly changed. I want to turn my life round and be the kind of man that would have made my son proud," Aiden confessed.

Marlena nodded. "I can see that. It's a very good sign that you've been coming to me. Admitting you need help shows great strength and the desire to change. And you know what else?"

"What?" Aiden asked with a nervous smile.

"I think that, the more you show people that you've changed, and the harder you work at being the man your son would want you to be, the more people will come around. The fact that you got Hope to come around and forgive you says a lot. If she can forgive you, then I don't see why others can't forgive you as well." Marlena smiled again at him.

"So, you don't think I'm a terrible person, and you don't hate me?" Aiden asked her.

She shook her head. "Oh, Aiden, trust me. In my life I've seen a lot of terrible people, and you're not one of them. I truly believe you mean well in everything you do. You're just sometimes misguided in how to go about doing things."

Aiden was relieved. "I'm glad you don't hate me, and that you aren't angry with me. I truly appreciate that. It's hard, you know, having the whole town hate me when all I want to do is make friends and be accepted like everyone else. I swear sometimes adult life can be worse than high school!"

Marlena chuckled. "I wouldn't worry about it too much. I think we all have days where we feel like that!"

"But everyone loves you, and with good reason. You're so kind, and wouldn't hurt a soul. You're forgiving, and good at helping people cope with their lives. I wish I could be more like you," Aiden confessed to her.

Marlena smiled yet again. "I'm not that perfect, believe me. You're trying the best you can, and that is all that matters. I'm actually proud of you for putting your life back together after the loss of Chase. You're getting help for your emotional issues, you're starting your own law firm, and you've made amends with Hope… Give it time. I'm sure more people will come around when they see how much you've changed."

Aiden nodded. "Thank you. I appreciate you saying that. I doubt Rafe will ever come around, but hopefully the people I actually care about will."

Marlena smirked. "It's more difficult when there is machoness involved. Rafe wants to protect his woman at all costs, and a part of him may still be a little jealous since you and Hope were once madly in love. Also, her forgiving you might be making him a little nervous. I wouldn't take it too personal."

Aiden nodded. "I don't, really. Anyway, I don't like him either, so him not liking me doesn't bother me one bit!" He smiled and winked at Marlena.

Marlena shook her head and laughed. "I think you two could use some counselling together!" she teased.

Aiden laughed too. "That would only make me need even more counselling!"

They both laughed harder, and then grinned at each other.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

Meanwhile, Rafe and Hope sat at Club TBD with Steve and Kayla, enjoying coffee and sandwiches over lunch.

As they ate their lunch, Hope and Kayla talked excitedly about their spa treatments they would be getting done after lunch.

"I think I'm the most looking forward to the seaweed wrap. "I've never had one of those done before! It will be interesting to try out," Kayla said to Hope.

Steve scrunched his eyebrows. "A seaweed wrap? What are they doing, preparing to eat you?"

Kayla rolled her eyes and playfully swatted him. "It's to get rid of all the toxins in your body. It also helps rejuvenate your skin and make it smoother. Oh, and it helps with elasticity, and reduces cellulite too!"

Steve raised an eyebrow. "Elasticity? Sweetness, you're not Gumby! I don't plan on stretching you out anytime soon."

Again, Kayla swatted at him. "It's to help prevent and reduce wrinkles and fine lines!"

"Well, that's a good thing then. Maybe it can reduce all those lines around your eyes!" Steve quipped with a laugh.

The look on Kayla's face was priceless.

Hope laughed behind her hand.

"If I were you, I'd run, Man. Like now!" Rafe said with a smirk on his face.

"Yes, that would be a very good idea," Kayla said evenly to Steve.

Steve laughed, and held up his hands in defense. "I was only kidding, Sweetness! I love your lines! They define you."

"You're lucky you're done with your lunch, so it won't go to waste when you're running out of here," Kayla said; not impressed.

"I can take a hint." Steve stood up. "You ladies enjoy your spa day. I need to go help Jo fix up his bike anyway." He nodded at Rafe, and murmured in his ear, "At least this way I'm not the one stuck with the bill."

"We can settle up when you get home," Kayla said, hearing him.

Rafe smirked. "You better stop at the florist on the way home," he said to Steve.

"And the Godiva chocolate store after that!" Kayla added.

Steve stood up straight and cleared his throat. "Sweets for my sweetness. Got it!" He was going to give Kayla a kiss, but her expression told him otherwise.

He quickly bid ado to Hope and Rafe, then took off.

Kayla smirked once he was gone. "I'm not really angry, but it's always good to keep him on his toes and get some free roses and chocolates out of it!"

Hope and Rafe both laughed.

"Well, I guess I better be going now too. I told Roman I'd come in for a few hours today since Ramirez called in sick." Rafe took out his wallet and left a fifty down on the table. "Lunch is on me."

"Aw, thank you! You didn't have to do that! I could have made Steve pay for everything. I do have our joint bank account card." Kayla smiled and winked at Rafe.

Rafe laughed. "It's okay. I'll cut the guy a break." He kissed Hope on the cheek. "See you at home later?"

She smiled at him. "Mhm!"

They quickly kissed on the lips.

"I'm going to go get another coffee for the road. Enjoy your spa day, ladies!" he said.

Hope and Kayla both thanked him, then he went to the bar to order his coffee.

It didn't take long to get his coffee. He then decided to go ask Hope what she wanted to do for dinner so he could plan accordingly after work.

He headed over toward Hope and Kayla, but before he got to their table, he overheard a conversation between them.

"So, I didn't want to say anything around Rafe, but what's up with you talking to Aiden again?" Kayla asked her. "I saw you two looking awfully cozy at the Halloween party."

Rafe quickly grabbed a newspaper from the pile of free papers that were set out for customers, and then sat down in the empty booth behind them with the paper covering his face as he listened; grateful that not many others were there, so he could hear well enough.

"After doing time for what I did to Stefano, it made me do a lot of thinking. I realized that I needed to be understanding and more forgiving to people if I ever wanted forgiveness myself," Hope explained. "It made me realize that it's hard to control your actions when your mind isn't in the right place. I was not in my right mind after what happened to Bo. Aiden was not in his right mind after his son's life was threatened. He had only planned to kill me to save Chase. He couldn't even go through with it. I however, did go through with murder. Neither one of our minds were in the right place. Even when he blackmailed me, he eventually came to his senses. He had just been so distraught over losing me. He's getting help from Marlena now. I really think he's a good person deep down. He wants to change. I know he does."

"Well, let's hope he does. What concerned me more though was the fact that you looked like you wanted to kiss him. I was pretty sure you were going to kiss him before Rafe came over and interrupted," Kayla admitted.

Hope sighed. "I couldn't help myself! He looked so good in his costume. Between that and bonding over our dead children… I guess my old feelings for him started to bubble up again. Then he was saying such nice things…"

"But what about Rafe?" Kayla asked.

Hope sighed. "I'm married to him, and after all he did for me, I owe it to him to fight for our marriage. And I will! Even so, I can't help how I feel about Aiden."

Kayla shook her head. "Maybe you should distance yourself from Aiden a bit. Rafe is a good man, Hope. He loves you. I mean, who knows if Aiden has really changed? After all, I saw him talking to and laughing with Andre Dimera at that party."

"That's what Rafe said," Hope admitted. "He doesn't trust him because of that either. Well, partly because of that anyway."

"Well, maybe he's right on this one. Besides, my brother wanted Rafe for you. Bo was always a good judge of character. He wouldn't have asked Rafe to look after you if he didn't think he was the best one for the job," Kayla reasoned.

Rafe obviously couldn't see Hope's expression, but he heard her whisper. "I know. Thanks, Kay."

Rafe then took off, not happy at all with the conversation he had just heard.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

Aiden was at his office looking over all the résumés that had been faxed and emailed to him. He had put an ad in the classifieds for associates and secretaries. A lot of the associate applicants didn't have the qualifications he was looking for. Some had the schooling completed, but hadn't been accepted into a law firm yet. He was looking for experience.

He put those in an intern pile. He figured that he would set up interviews and choose a few interns to learn their trade. If they ended up being good, and being able to handle things, then he would promote them to associates.

Ones that had experience and superb schooling, he put into the definite yes pile. The problem was, he only had a budget to hire five and there was about a hundred résumés in the pile! He had never thought he'd get that many applicants! He was going to be mighty busy with interviews these next couple weeks he knew.

The third pile was a no pile. He hated rejecting people because he knew how it felt to be rejected. However, he knew that when it came to jobs, rejection was a part of life. Anyway, he knew they were used to it. The reason he didn't want them was because they had gotten fired from their past law firms. Heck, some had been fired more than once by a couple different law firms! He didn't want to even risk hiring them.

He counted both the yes and intern piles and realized he would have to interview a hundred and fifty applicants. Yikes! And he hadn't even gone through the secretary résumés yet! Between work and the law firm, he had no idea when he was going to get the time. He supposed he had no choice but to work nights and weekends—at least until all the interviews were done.

Suddenly, there was a knock on his already opened office door.

Aiden looked up, expecting to see one of the construction workers with a question. Instead, he found Rafe standing in the doorway, looking ticked as usual.

He sighed. "What do you want, Rafe, and how did you know where my office is?"

Rafe smirked. "Hope mentioned it before."

"Word travels fast," Aiden said simply, going through his applicants again. He supposed if he did twenty five interviews a day, it would only take him six days to get through all the associate applicants. At least he only had about seventy five secretary applicants. He might even be able to weed through some of those, and get done with those in three days tops.

"I need to talk to you," Rafe said.

Aiden looked up at him. "What is it, Rafe? I'm very busy right now."

"Don't worry. I'm technically out on patrol and have to get back to work soon anyway. This will only take a moment," Rafe said coolly.

"Well, speak up then. What is it?" Aiden asked; annoyed.

"I want you to stay the hell away from Hope!" Rafe snapped.

Aiden laughed. "That's it? You want me to stay away from Hope? It's always the same old thing with you, isn't it?" He got up to leave. "I don't have time for this."

"I mean it, Jennings! I don't want you running into her, I don't want you talking about her, heck, I don't want you even thinking about her! She is _my_ wife; not yours!" Rafe snapped.

"I have to check on the roof construction. You can see yourself out," Aiden said, heading for the roof. He didn't have time for Rafe Hernandez and his jealous rants; not today.

However, Rafe began to follow him. "I mean it! If you run into her, you walk the other way. You don't even greet her. You stay the hell away from her!"

Aiden stopped and turned to face Rafe. "You know what, Rafe? She was my wife first!"

"For like an hour before you tried to kill her, or planned on it, whatever. Planning it is just as bad in my book!" Rafe grumbled.

Aiden smiled. "Well, lucky for me, Hope doesn't seem to have the same book as you do. Now if you'll excuse me, I have better things to do then listen to your jealous little rants!" He stormed up to the roof.

Rafe stormed right behind him. "If you don't stay away from Hope, I'll have to personally make sure you stay away from her!"

Aiden looked at him; annoyed. "Is that a threat? You may want to take that back." He motioned to the workers who were on the roof with them. "I have a roof full of witnesses."

Rafe clenched his fists, looking like he was about to explode. "You just stay the hell away from her, all right?"

Aiden shook his head. "No, Rafe. I _won't_ stay away from her! Hope is my friend, and I have every right to talk to her!" He smirked. "Judging from way she begged me to make love to her the other night, she doesn't want me to stay away from her anyway!"

"That does it!" Rafe ran to Aiden and tried to attack him.

Aiden was ready this time, and caught his fist.

"She was hurting! Her twins had just died! She didn't know what she was doing! If she had slept with you, it would only have been because she had been angry with me and wanted to get back at me. Trust me, it had nothing to do with you!" Rafe snapped. He surprised Aiden with a punch to the jaw, having used his less dominant hand.

Aiden then pulled the same trick on Rafe, getting a punch to _his_ jaw. "Self-defense!"

"Hey! Stop that! Don't you know how dangerous fighting on a rooftop is?" the head construction worker yelled at them.

Aiden and Rafe didn't listen. They were still trying to throw punches at each other.

"Watch out! We didn't patch that part yet!" one of the construction workers called out.

Aiden and Rafe both looked over at him, and then, before they could heed the construction worker's warning, the roof gave out, and they both went crashing through the roof.


	19. S1E19

_**This Love…**_

 _ **Season 2 Episode 19: Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)**_

Two weeks had passed since Carol's surgery. Against Aiden's wishes, she had opted to stay at the mansion with Andre instead of staying with him and Hope during her recovery time. Not that Aiden really had a say in the matter anyway. After all, she was not only an adult, but older than him. Even so, she was glad that he was appeased by the fact that Dr. Rolf would also be living in the mansion for two weeks just in case she needed him. Dr. Rolf wanted to monitor her and make sure that she wasn't rejecting the organ.

Casey had gone home, and Chad and Abigail were away on an extended vacation. They were taking Thomas to all the places a child dreamed of going—Disney World, Disney Land, and finally, Sesame Place in Pennsylvania. Carol was sure Thomas' little heart was bursting with excitement.

However, now that she was doing okay, Rolf had given her the green light to go out and finally get back into the world. Because he had been afraid of her being susceptible to infections, he had wanted her to stay in the house for two weeks just to be safe. Aiden and Hope visited her every day, but now she was ready to get out. Andre was always out with his "business dealings" as he had put it (whatever that meant), which left her bored to tears. Heck, even Rolf was planning on moving back to wherever it was that he lived.

Bottom line, she was bored out of her skull and had to get out. Soap operas were just way too dramatic, and as for game shows, she didn't care to see others winning money. It wasn't her money, so what difference did it make?

She grabbed her purse and jetted out, so glad to finally see the sunshine. Being cooped up and hidden way in the Dimera mansion for two weeks had made her start to feel like she was a fricking vampire. She smirked. Though she was pretty sure that living with the Dimeras wasn't much different than living with Dracula would be….

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

Hope was bored out of her skull. She knew it was for the babies' safety, but still, she hated not working. Staying home all day was driving her insane. She had gone to visit Carol, but when she arrived at the mansion, Harold had informed her that Miss Jennings had gone out, and he wasn't sure where. For some reason Hope had never thought to get her cell phone number, so that ruled out Carol as someone to hang out with.

Hope had then decided to bring Aiden some lunch. She knew he sometimes got so busy with work that he forgot to eat, so she figured she'd bring him something.

She picked them up some cheese burgers and fries from the Brady pub along with some decaf coffee for her, and a regular coffee for Aiden. She also got them a couple of bottled waters. She then stopped by the bakery and got them each a slice of chocolate cheesecake for dessert.

Finally, she headed to Aiden's office, excited at the prospect of eating lunch together in their special rooftop room.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

Tiffany knocked on Aiden's door. "Excuse me Mr. Jennings? I have to talk to you about something in your schedule."

"Come in, Tiffany," Aiden called from his desk. Everyone else was out to lunch. Actually "everyone" was only two other associates. The others had the day off.

"I thought you'd be off to lunch by now," Aiden said as Tiffany shut the door behind them.

"I wanted to finish up your schedule before going to lunch. I hate to eat when there are still important things that need to be done," Tiffany stated.

Aiden smiled as she sat down in the chair in front of his desk. "That's one of the reasons I chose you as my secretary. I could tell you have the work ethic I was looking for." He smiled and winked at her.

Tiffany grinned. "You're sweet. Anyway, I noticed something that I should have noticed before and didn't. You have to be to court on Friday for the Donelson case. However, you also have to be to be to court on Friday for that lawsuit hearing that Mrs. Peterson has."

"What time is each of them?" Aiden asked.

"That's the problem. One is at nine and the other one is at nine-thirty."

Aiden sighed. "Oh, great! I can't guarantee the first one will only take me a half hour, and it's too late to get a continuance for either one. I guess I'm just going to have to see if Alex can take over for me with Mrs. Peterson. I'll call him and give him all the information he has to know. Since she is just dealing with a lawsuit, the lawyer switch shouldn't matter. Jonathon Donaldson is dealing with a misdemeanor charge, it wouldn't look good to switch _his_ lawyer out so late in the game."

"Would you like me to call Mrs. Peterson and inform her of the change in representation?" Tiffany asked.

Aiden sighed. "I appreciate it, but since this was my fault, I think I should be the one to break it to her. I really don't think she'll mind as long as she gets out of this lawsuit, and I'm sure Alex is just as capable as I am at getting her out of it. Even so, I feel bad."

"You're such a good man. I can't say that about all lawyers," Tiffany said. She leaned over the desk toward him. She lowered her voice even though they were currently the only two people in the office. "Patterson and Jameson was full of the most crooked lawyers I've ever seen," she said referring to the law firm she had worked at prior.

Aiden nodded. "Tell me about it! I knew it was only a matter of time before they were caught doing something illegal. Embezzling money from their clients—it doesn't get any more crooked than that!"

Tiffany nodded. "And now they're out of business and in jail while their fellow inmates are embezzling from _them_. Only their inmates are embezzling a whole different kind of assets if you know what I mean." She winked.

Aiden laughed and Tiffany grinned big; pleased that he had found her joke funny.

 _ **~*came back to me*~**_

Hope entered the office and was surprised to see it void of anybody. Not even Tiffany was at her usual spot behind her desk. She figured everyone had gone off to lunch. However, since the door was left unlocked, she knew Aiden was either in his office still working hard, or possibly upstairs in their room, enjoying some quiet time between clients.

She headed over to his office. The door was closed. She was about to knock when she heard laughter on the other side of the door. One of the laughs was Aiden's, and the other was a female laugh. She knew it was Tiffany's laugh and not a client's because Tiffany had a very distinctive laugh that sounded just like JLO's laugh.

Blinded by jealousy, she opened the door, and gasped when she saw Tiffany leaning over her Aiden's desk, practically on top of it. She was wearing something low-cut as usual, and his eyes were exactly where Tiffany wanted them to be as they laughed together over God knew what.

"What the hell is going on here?" Hope asked, her guard instantly going up.

"Hope!" Aiden practically jumped out of his chair. "What are you doing here?" He sounded nervous as he smiled at her and rushed over to her.

Tiffany sat back down in her chair, a fake smile on her face.

Aiden tried to kiss Hope, but she gently pushed him away. "I came by to bring you lunch," she said coldly.

"That was sweet of you," Aiden said, still sounding nervous.

"You didn't answer my question. What's going on here?" Hope asked, setting down onto the desk the drink tray and food bag, then turning back to face Aiden and crossing her arms over her chest. She impatiently tapped her foot as she waited for an answer.

"We were just discussing how to fix a little snafu. He had to be at two court rooms at the same time," Tiffany answered for Aiden.

Hope shot her a look. "I didn't ask you; I asked my boyfriend. And isn't that top a little unprofessional? Your breasts are out for all to see. Who exactly are you trying to impress?"

Tiffany's mouth dropped open. "I-I…It's just my style. It's the way I always dress. Mr. Jennings never has a problem with it."

Hope imagined herself letting out a blood-curling scream, then jumping on Tiffany and ripping her hair out by the roots. Instead, for the babies' sake, the sake of not getting arrested, the sake of not getting blood all over Aiden's new office, she remained calm. "Well, then maybe you should have been a stripper instead of a lawyers' secretary."

"Hope! Don't be rude!" Aiden chastised. "She's dressed up. My only dress code here is that you can't dress casually."

Hope whipped around to face him again. "Well then maybe you should make one about appropriate and professional dressing!" She nodded at him. Not that you seemed to mind. Don't think I didn't see you ogling her breasts."

"I wasn't ogling her breasts! Hope, you're being ridiculous. You need to apologize to Tiffany right now!" Aiden snapped.

"Don't talk to me like I'm a child!" Hope snapped back.

"Funny, you never seemed to have a problem with Rafe treating you like a child," Aiden quipped. He crossed his arms over his chest in return.

"I can't believe you just said that," Hope said, shaking her head.

Aiden shrugged. "Why not? It's true!"

"I'm going to go to lunch now," Tiffany said. It was very apparent how awkward she felt.

"You do that," Hope sneered at her. "In fact, don't even worry about it. You can continue to flirt with him and flash your breasts at him because clearly that's what he likes. I'll leave you two alone." She started to take off.

"Hope, wait!" Aiden called after her.

Hope turned around and headed back over.

"I knew you'd come to your senses," Aiden said.

Hope shot him a look. "I'm carrying our children. I need to eat." She snatched the food but left the drinks. "You can have the drinks. The coffees are probably cold by now anyway. As for food, I'm sure the stripper wannabe will make sure you're well-fed. And to think, you could have had chocolate cheesecake with me." Hope then left, slamming Aiden's office door behind her.

 _ **~*came back to me*~**_

"I'm sorry you had to witness that. I'm also sorry for all the insults she shot your way," Aiden apologized once Hope was gone.

Tiffany smirked. "It's okay," she said with a shrug. "She's pregnant and hormonal. My sister gets testy like that every time she's pregnant. I won't take it personally."

"I'm sorry also if I was looking at your chest. I didn't even notice that I was," Aiden said with a blush. He caught himself looking again and quickly looked away. "I did it again. I think it's just because they aren't far from my line of view."

Tiffany pat his shoulder in a friendly manner. "It's all right. Maybe your girlfriend had a point. This may not be the most appropriate attire for my like of work. I'll go out and buy some more appropriate work tops tonight."

"I guess that would be best if it bugs my girlfriend that much. At least let me pay for them," Aiden said, reaching for his wallet.

"No, no! It's fine. You're not the only one with money you know." He winked at him.

"I know but…" Aiden trailed off. "I just feel bad is all."

"Well, don't. It's fine, really. I could use more modest clothes anyway so as not to freak out my parents when I come visit them." She smiled and winked at Aiden.

"You know what?" Aiden said to her. "There aren't that many more clients to deal with today. Why don't you take the rest of the day off? I'll still give you the full day's pay of course."

"Really? That would be great! It will give me a chance to do some errands I've been needing to do. I'd really appreciate it. Are you sure you don't mind?" Tiffany asked.

Aiden shook his head. "Not at all. You go run your errands and I will see you in the morning."

"Thank you so much! You're the best boss ever!" she said, going out to her desk and grabbing her purse from the drawer. "I'll see you tomorrow and more modesetly dressed at that!" She said on her way out.

Aiden laughed. "See you tomorrow," he said, waving even though she had her back toward him.

He then headed back in his office, sat down, and made the dreaded call to Mrs. Peterson.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

Carol smiled when she arrived at the café and saw Casey sitting down by himself at one of the tables. She quickly made a bee-line for his table. "Hey there, stranger. How you feeling?"

Casey smiled at her, revealing two perfect white rows of teeth. "I should be asking you that! How's my kidney treating you?"

"So far so good!" Carol crossed her fingers. "Fingers crossed!"

"And Lord-willing," Casey said with a nod. "You eating here too? Please, sit down." He motioned toward the empty chair in front of him.

"Why thank you! Don't mind if I do!" Carol said, taking a seat. "You didn't order yet?" she asked.

Casey shook his head. "No, Ma'am! I just got here a couple minutes before you did."

"So, are you feeling okay?" Carol asked.

Casey nodded. "I'm doin' just fine, thank you. It's a little harder to pee now that I only have one kidney, but I'll be all right."

Carol winced. "It is?"

Casey burst out laughing. "Relax! I was only kidding."

Carol laughed, blushing and feeling slightly embarrassed.

The waitress came over then and handed them both menus.

"I already know what I want, thanks!" Carol and Casey said at the same time.

"Jinx, by me a soda!" Carol said. She laughed. "Remember that?"

"I do remember it! I'll do you one better. I'll pay for your whole lunch," Casey said.

Carol shook her head. "No way. You just gave me your kidney. The least I can do is pay for your lunch!" She turned to the waitress. "I'll have the egg salad on white. Make sure there are no olives. I hate olives! Oh and a blueberry lemonade to drink please."

"No way!" Casey said.

"What?" Carol asked with a grin.

"That is exactly what I was going to order" Casey said. "Only I want milk with mine. And put them both on one check please. I'm buyin'."

The waitress wrote it down.

"Casey, I told you I would pay!" Carol objected.

"I know, but I just can't let a woman pay. I simply wasn't raised that way," Casey said.

The waitress smiled. "I'll put your orders right in!" She then went off to do just that.

"Well, thank you. You really didn't have to do that, you know," Carol said.

"Not only did I have to, but I also wanted to," Casey said. "It's the southern thing to do."

"I never did ask you where you're from," Carol stated.

Casey sat up proud. "Montgomery Alabama, born and raised! I moved out here just for a change of scenery. I got a contracting job out there to help build the new mall a few years back. I fell in love with Salem, and decided to stick around for a bit."

"Do you have any family out here or friends?" Carol asked.

Casey shook his head. "No, Ma'am! It's just me and my dog Jake." He grinned. "He's a golden retriever and the cutest thing you'll ever lay eyes on."

Carol rested her chin on her hand and stared into his eyes. "Don't you ever get lonely?"

Casey shook his head. "No, not really. I've always been a bit of a loner. Though, once in a while, it's kind of nice when a pretty lady like you comes along to have lunch with me."

Carol blushed and smiled. "And so far, I'm enjoying having lunch with a handsome kidney donor. Or rather, waiting for lunch anyway."

They both laughed.

"Stick around and I promise you'll enjoy it even more," Casey said, reaching across the table and putting his hand over her free wrist. He flashed his perfect white teeth again.

Carol flashed her own teeth, feeling her cheeks warm again.

 _ **~*came back to me*~**_

Hope crossed her arms and put on her best cross expression as she heard Aiden enter the house. She didn't even look when he greeted her.

"You're still mad," he stated, coming over to her.

"Tell me something I don't know," Hope said coldly.

"Aren't you going to at least look at me?" Aiden asked her.

Hope raised an eyebrow, her arms still crossed over her chest. "Nope!"

Aiden sighed. "I was hoping it didn't have to come to this, but here goes…."

Hope still refused to look until she heard him suddenly start to sing.

"How can I just let you walk away? Just leave without a trace? When I stand here taking very breath with you. Oo oo…"

Hope finally looked at him. He had a huge bouquet of purple and pink tulips I his hands. "Aiden, what are you doing?"

"How can you just walk away from me when all I can do is watch you leave? Cuz we've shared the laughter and the pain, and even shed the tears. You're the only one who really knew me at all."

"Aiden, stop. This is serious!" Hope said, taking the flowers from him.

Aiden still continued to ignore her and sing. "So take a look at me now! Well there's just an empty space. And there's nothing left here to remind me; just a memory of your face. Oh, take a look at me now! Well there's just an _empty_ space. And you coming back to me is against the odds, and it's what I've got to face…"

"Aiden… Stop it…" Hope's anger was slowly starting to crumble.

"I wish I could just make you turn around—turn around and see me cry. There's so much I need to say to you. So many reasons why. You're the—"

Hope cut him off with a passionate kiss to the lips. "I forgive you! Just stop singing." She rested her forehead against his.

"Was I that bad?" Aiden asked.

"No, you were decent. I just don't want to cry, and you're going to make me cry if you keep it up," Hope said, getting emotional.

Aiden gently wiped the tears from her eyes with his thumbs. "Don't cry, Baby. I'm sorry I hurt you today. I didn't mean to scold you like a child. I also didn't mean to stare at Tiffany's chest. Her breasts were just in my line of view."

"They don't hold a candle to mine anyway," Hope said, suddenly feeling her annoyance come back.

"I'm sure they don't! I didn't really pay attention to hers, but after seeing yours, I have no doubt!" Aiden assured her.

Hope raised an eyebrow. "I'm listening. Please, continue with your apology."

"I told Tiffany it would be best that she start dressing more conservatively," Aiden replied.

Hope raised an eyebrow. "You did?"

Aiden blushed. "Well, she suggested she should and I told her that would be a good idea from now on."

"I don't like her calling you Mr. Jennings either. That's _my_ name for you," Hope said.

Aiden nodded. "She's just being professional, but fine. She will call me Aiden from now on. We really were just talking about a case, Hope."

"Why was she leaning in so close?" Hope pouted.

"She was telling me something about the other law firm she used to work for that she didn't want anyone else overhearing," Aiden explained. "We were laughing in regards to that."

"No one else was around to hear," Hope gently argued.

"Well, anyone could have come back from lunch at any time. Heck, you came over," Aiden said simply.

Hope nodded. "Fair enough."

"I would never ever cheat on you, Hope. I promise you, there is no one I love more than you, and no one who is more beautiful than you are in my eyes." Aiden walked over to her and gently stroked her hair. "I promise you!"

Hope's expression softened. She set the flowers down on the couch. "I know. I'm sorry I overreacted. I'll apologize to Tiffany tomorrow. I'm just feeling so emotional lately! I don't know what's wrong with me!"

"Well, for starters you're pregnant. Then there's the whole thing with Ciara. You have a lot on your plate right now. It's understandable," Aiden assured her, gently rubbing her back.

"I'm sorry I took your lunch. Did you get to eat?" Hope asked, gently stroking his hair. "I'm also sorry I ate your cheesecake." She blushed. "The babies wanted it."

"Well, who am I to deny them it?" Aiden asked with a smile. "Don't worry. I had Alex bring me a sandwich." He kissed Hope's forehead. "So, did you like being sung to? Your father told me once that he sings to Julie to make her not angry with him. I figured I'd try it out on you."

Hope wrapped her arms around him and kissed him. "I loved it!" She rested her forehead against his. "It was the perfect song choice too."

Aiden smiled. "It was my favorite song as a teen. Carol always used to tease me about it even though I know she loved it too."

Hope laughed. "Just let me go put these flowers in water, then maybe we can officially make up?" She bat her long eyelashes at him. "If you know what I mean?"

"Mm… Make it quick," he murmured against her neck.

Hope licked her lips. "I will." She picked up the flowers, closed her eyes, and inhaled the sweet scent. Then she ran to the kitchen and put them in a vase of fresh water.

When she came back out of the kitchen, she ran toward Aiden who picked her up in his arms and kissed her passionately the whole way up the stairs as she wrapped her arms around him and hungrily kissed him in return.


	20. S1E20

_**This Love…**_

 _ **Season 1 Episode 20: If Ever You're in My Arms Again**_

"This really sucks, having to be in a wheel chair," Rafe grumbled as Hope wheeled him into Dr. Kessler's office. Dr. Kessler was the marriage therapist that Marlena had referred them to. It was mid-November now; just a week after the accident. They had called Marlena the very next day, and then once having gotten the referral, they called Dr. Kessler that very same day. They were grateful that he had been able to get them in so soon.

"Just be grateful it's only for six weeks! Some people are stuck in wheelchairs for life," Hope said as she parked him next to an empty chair in the waiting room. She then sat down in the chair.

"I know. Still… I'd rather have had crutches. At least then I'd still be able to walk," Rafe continued to grumble.

Hope smirked. "I'd have loved to see you try to maneuver crutches around with only one leg and one arm!"

"Yeah, yeah," Rafe grumbled.

Hope pouted, and playfully mussed up his hair. "Don't be so grumpy!" she teased.

Just then, a patient came out of Dr. Kessler's office, and Dr. Kessler poked his head out of his office doorway. "Hope and Rafe Hernandez? You can come on in now," he said with a kind smile.

Hope stood up, then grabbed Rafe's wheelchair and wheeled him into the office.

"I'd say please take a seat, but I see you're already seated!" DR. Kessler teased Rafe with a smile and a wink.

Hope parked Rafe beside her chair, then sat down. "I'd be careful if I were you," she warned Dr. Kessler. She then whispered. "Being in a wheelchair is kind of a sore subject for him."

Rafe shot her an annoyed look. "I can still hear you, you know. You don't have to treat me like a five-year-old."

Hope felt like being sassy. "Why not?" she asked him. "It's how you usually treat me!"

Rafe stared blankly at her; apparently not knowing what to say o that.

"I see I have my work cut out for me!" Dr. Kessler said with a chuckle.

Hope and Rafe both blushed.

"Sorry," Hope apologized.

Rafe hung his head. "Me too."

Dr. Kessler smiled kindly. "Oh, it's all right. You don't have to apologize to me!" He leaned in closer to them. "Trust me, I've seen my patients act a lot nastier toward each other than you two!" He gave them another smile and wink.

Hope and Rafe smiled weakly at each other.

"So, why don't we start with one of you telling me what the problem is?" Dr. Kessler suggested.

Hope and Rafe looked at each other, silently asking the other who should speak first.

"You can go first," Rafe said to her.

Hope nodded, then turned her attention back to Dr. Kessler. "It all started when he was watching our twins. We had gotten into an argument over a guy friend of mine before I went to work. He was still angry over our argument, and decided to bathe our twins in the big tub instead of the baby tubs as I had requested."

"Sorry to interrupt, but it actually all started with Aiden Jennings—the man we were arguing about. She used to date him, and was married to him. He owed a lot of money, and so he planned to kill her to get her life insurance policy to pay off his debt," Rafe explained. "On their wedding night, mind you!"

"In all fairness, the people he owed money to threatened to kill his son if he didn't kill me. The people he owed money to had a long-standing vendetta against me and my family," Hope explained.

"She's always making excuses for this guy, and she's still friends with him despite what he's done to her and all the lies he told her. Even the beginning of their relationship was a lie. He had been paid to make her fall in love with him by the same people that wanted her dead. He once even blackmailed her into being with him," Rafe told Dr. Kessler.

"But his love for me ended up being real. He fell in love with me in the process of trying to get me to fall for him," Hope explained to Dr. Kessler. "And he came to his senses about the blackmailing."

"See? There she goes again, making excuses for him and defending him," Rafe grumbled.

Hope shot Rafe a look. "I defend people when they deserve defending! Let's talk about you again!" She looked at Dr. Kessler. "He gets so paranoid over Aiden that he made a call to his FBI friend to do an investigation on Aiden. While he made the call, he left the twins in a tub of running water." Hope's eyes teared up. "Because of his neglect of the twins over his paranoia, they drowned. He didn't turn the water off when he left the room, so when they reached for their little rubber duckies that got away from them, they fell on their faces and drowned!"

"Well if she hadn't been hanging around Aiden all the time, then I wouldn't have had to worry! And, by the way, since then she has kissed Aiden on two different occasions. Not only that, the very same night we lost our twins, she begged him to make love to her! Can you see now why I worry? I'm not so paranoid, am I?" Rafe asked Dr. Kessler.

Hope blushed; embarrassed that Rafe had told Dr. Kessler about her begging Aiden to make love to her. "I was upset and distraught. I had just lost my twins. I was also very angry with Rafe," she quietly explained as she looked down at her lap.

"Yeah, well, you seem to be forgetting that they were my twins too!" Rafe snapped.

Hope looked at him angrily. "You were the one who caused their death in the first place!"

"All the more reason that I'm grieving and hurting! Do you really think I don't beat myself up over that every day of my life since the twins died? Don't you think my pain is just as intense as your pain, if not worse?" Rafe asked.

Hope looked away. "I don't know," she said quietly.

"Well, it is!" Rafe assured her.

She looked at him again. "I hadn't even asked Aiden to make love to me until _after_ you asked your friend for that investigation."

Rafe nodded. "But you kissed him the first time _before_ I asked for the investigation."

Hope shook her head. "But you didn't know about it until _after_."

"Well, I obviously had reason to worry, didn't I? I've seen the way you looked at him even before the kiss even happened," Rafe stated.

"Hope, how do you feel about Aiden? Are you developing feelings for him again?" Dr. Kessler asked her.

"Yes, she is. I overheard her telling her best friend about her feelings for Aiden!" Rafe answered for her.

"I'd like to hear it from Hope please," Dr. Kessler said, his eyes not leaving Hope's.

Hope looked from Dr. Kessler to Rafe, to back to Dr. Kessler, to her lap. "I guess I do." She then looked at Rafe quickly. "But I chose Rafe, and he is who I want to be with! My feelings for Aiden will pass." She looked at Dr. Kessler. "That is why I'm here. I want to fix my marriage with Rafe because we've been through a lot together. He's always here for me, and I love him." She reached over and took Rafe's hand, gently rubbing the back of it with her thumb. "He's always been nothing but good to me."

"Unlike Aiden," Rafe reminded her.

Hope looked sad, but she nodded. "Yes," she said in almost a whisper. "Unlike Aiden."

"Hope, let me ask you something. Are you one-hundred percent committed to fixing this marriage between you and Rafe?" Dr. Kessler asked her.

Hope nodded. "I wouldn't be here if I wasn't."

"Well, judging from what I've heard today, this Aiden Jennings guy seems to be the root of your problems," Dr. Kessler stated.

Rafe nodded. "Thank you!"

Dr. Kessler was still looking at Hope. "Hope, you kissing Mr. Jennings on two different accounts concerns me. And, though you were in a distressed state, begging a man who is not your husband to make love to you isn't healthy."

Hope looked away, suddenly feeling ashamed. She never had been one to be able to handle herself well when she was in a highly emotional state.

"This is what I'm going to need you to do if you want any chance at all of getting over Aiden Jennings and fixing your marriage. You need to cut all ties with him," Dr. Kessler began.

Hope whipped her head up to look at him. "All contact?" she asked quietly in surprise.

Dr. Kessler nodded. "That's right! If you continue to see him, it's only going to make your feelings for him build and build until eventually you have a problem that might not be so easy to fix—that is, if you even want to fix it at that point."

"Of course I want to fix it!" Hope said, her eyebrows scrunched in slight annoyance. "I said I did. So, I can't even talk to him?"

Dr. Kessler chuckled. "The whole point in cutting off all ties is not talking to that person anymore. Yes, no talking, no hanging out, no anything! It will be as if the two of you don't even know each other. That being said, you should see him one last time simply to tell him not to speak to you anymore."

"But that will break his heart! He just lost his son not that long ago. He needs me. We understand what each other is going through," Hope said gently.

"There are plenty of grief support groups here in Salem. I'm sure he can find one if he looks for one. As for you, you need to decide what is more important to you—taking care of a man who is no longer your husband, or your husband, who also needs you," Dr. Kessler told her.

The timer went off and he smiled, pressing the button to turn it off. "Well, that is the end of today's session! Hope, your homework is to tell Aiden Jennings that you can no longer see him. During our next session, I want you to tell me how that went for you." Dr. Kessler turned his attention onto Rafe. "And Rafe, your homework is trying not to be so grouchy to your wife. It's not _her_ fault you broke your arm and leg. She is kind enough to take care of you. Try to cut her a little slack, all right?"

Rafe nodded. "All right." He looked at Hope. "I'm sorry. I appreciate your helping me."

Hope gave him a weak smile. "It's all right. I'd be frustrated too if _I_ couldn't walk." She then turned to Dr. Kessler. "Thank you," she said. "For helping us."

"You're very welcome! I'm just doing my job," Dr. Kessler said. He then got up and held the door open for them. "You can schedule your next appointment with Melinda, my secretary."

As Hope wheeled Rafe over to the secretary's desk, she couldn't help but sadly wonder, how in the heck was she going to break the news to Aiden that they couldn't exist to each other anymore?

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

Aiden had just gotten done with interview number fifty. So far, he had ten candidates he really liked a lot. He still had a lot more interviews to go yet though. He knew it was going to be hard picking just five associates, but five associates were all he needed right now.

The roof had been fully repaired, so now all needed was to finish furnishing his office, and get a sign made up and put out. He had decided to keep it simple and name his law firm Jennings and Associates. He was so excited to soon have his firm up and running. `

There was a knock on the door.

"Come in," he said, hoping it wasn't another visit from Rafe.

Hope opened the door. "Hey." She smiled. "It looks like everything is coming along nicely."

"Hey! It's good to see you stop by." He grinned. "It's a nice surprise. And yes, I'm almost ready to get things up and running. I'm shooting for January second. I should have everyone hired within a week or two. I'm going with Jennings and Associates for the name. How does that sound?" He grinned.

Hope smiled. "That sounds perfect. Sweet and simple."

Aiden nodded. "Exactly what I was thinking! So, what brings you by?"

Hope walked into the room, and shut the door behind her despite no one else being there. "You know, you really should make sure the front door is locked. Anyone can just walk in," she said, trying to stall in telling him about the no contact rule.

"I had it open for the interviews I did today," he explained.

"Do you have anyone else coming in?" Hope asked.

Aiden shook his head. "Nope! You're in luck. I just got done interviewing the last one for the night before you came in. Now, to what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?" he asked.

Hope sighed. "Unfortunately, you're not going to like my reason."

Aiden paused. "Uh oh. What's wrong?"

"Well, Rafe and I are seeing a marriage counsellor, and he suggests that I cut off all contact with you." Hope looked away; not able to get herself to look at Aiden's face when she said it.

"Who did, Rafe or the counsellor?" Aiden asked.

"The counsellor, actually, but I know Rafe agrees with him a hundred percent." Hope finally looked at him. "I'm sorry."

"Let me guess—Rafe picked this therapist out himself." Aiden shook his head in disbelief.

Hope shook her head. "No, actually, Marlena did."

"How did the subject of me even come up?" Aiden asked.

"Rafe mentioned his issue with you and his issue with me always defending you," Hope replied. She looked away again.

"You're not actually going to cut all ties with me, are you?" Aiden asked in surprise.

Hope slowly nodded. "I'm sorry, but I have to!" She looked to the floor. "It's the only way to save my marriage."

"So that's it? You're just going to stop defending me and pretend I never even existed?" Aiden asked her; clearly upset now.

Hope nodded. "It's what I have to do."

"Why? Because your therapist and Rafe told you to? Hope, you don't have to do this just because they told you to. You don't have to do anything you don't want to!" Aiden tried to reason with her. He couldn't bear to lose her all together!

"I want this too. I want to fix my marriage," Hope said quietly.

"Hope, look at me. Look me in the eyes and tell me you'd rather try to make your broken marriage work than be with me."

Hope looked at him with tears in her eyes. "Please don't contact me in any way anymore, Aiden. If you see me, please walk the other way. Don't say hello, heck please don't even look at me."

Aiden had tears in his own eyes. "Hope, no. I'm not going to agree to this! I'm not going to lose you—not again. I couldn't bear it!"

"I'm sorry!" Hope said, more tears in her eyes as she got up to leave.

"Hope, I'm begging you. If you ever loved me at all, please don't do this!" Aiden pleaded.

Hope looked at him from the doorway, tears streaming down her face. "Goodbye, Aiden." She then left, closing the door behind her.

Aiden cried out in frustration, and threw a law book that was on his desk at the closed door.

"This isn't over," he muttered.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

Hope cried in her car for a good ten minutes. She hated hurting Aiden like that, but it had to be done. After all Rafe had done for her, she owed it to him to at least _try_ to fight for their marriage. After all, she had made a commitment to stick with him through both the good times and the bad.

Once she was able to stop crying, she checked her eyes in the mirror. Once she was sure no one could tell if she had been crying, she went into the house.

Rafe was waiting for her. "How did it go? Did you tell him?"

Hope nodded. "He wasn't happy about it, but I told him that this is what I wanted, and that this is how things needed to be."

Rafe nodded. "Well, good! It's about time. Come here."

Hope walked over to him.

"Sit on my good leg," he ordered.

She did as told. He then wrapped his good arm around her. "I love you. You know that, right?"

Hope nodded, and gave him a weak smile. "You never left any doubt in my mind. I love you too."

Rafe kissed the top of her head and gently stroked her hair. "It will be all right, I promise. You'll see. We're going to come out of this with a stronger relationship and marriage than ever before!"

Hope smiled, and rested her head against his chest as he continued to stroke her hair. A lone tear rolled down her cheek. She wasn't so sure.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

Aiden lay I bed, tears streaming down his cheeks as he looked at an old picture of him and Hope that he had never deleted from his phone. He had his arms around her from behind, and she had the most beautiful smile in the world on her face.

He hovered his thumb over the delete button. He should just delete it, he knew. She didn't want him anymore. She had made her choice—again.

He sighed. "Who am I kidding?" He set his phone back on the bed stand without deleting the picture. He'd never be able to delete Hope, he knew. Not in the literal sense, and not on his phone. He loved her way too much. She was the one, and even if he never had her again, she would still always be the one great love of his life, and that was never going to change.


	21. S1E21

_**This Love…**_

 _ **Season 1 Episode 21: We Gather Together**_

It was now Thanksgiving. Hope and Rafe had had a couple more sessions with their therapist since their first one, and there was no more talk of Aiden. In fact, whenever Hope ran into Aiden, he would walk the other way just as she had asked him to. She felt horrible, but she knew it was what had to be done. Even so, she felt like scum whenever their eyes would meet. He'd have this deep sadness in his eyes. He would quickly look away then go in the opposite direction he needed to go simply because she was headed the same way.

As for Rafe, she and Rafe were doing better. They were. They hadn't had a fight since she had broken things off with Aiden, so to speak. Even so, things just felt…different between her and Rafe, she noticed. They didn't feel as exciting as they had when they first got together. Now, their life together just seemed so…routine. And her heart… It wasn't as into the relationship as it used to be either. She was hoping that would soon change. She wanted to be the kind of wife that Rafe needed and deserved. She really did! She was determined to do everything in her power to stay away from Aiden. After all, falling for another man while married was just not who she was—especially not after all Rafe had done for her.

"A penny for your thoughts?" Jen asked her.

Hope snapped herself out of her reverie, and looked at her cousin who was smiling at her. Jen had a hand over her shoulder. "Hey, Jen. It's good to see you!" She hugged her cousin. "Happy Thanksgiving."

"It's good to see you too! Happy Thanksgiving," Jen said, hugging her back.

"I was just thinking how much I have to be thankful for. Rafe takes such good care of me. Not to mention I have the best cousin in the world!" She winked and smiled at Jen.

"Yeah, I highly doubt you just happened to be thinking about me and how great you think I am, but we'll go with that because it strokes my ego!" Jen teased.

They both laughed.

"And back at ya!" Jen smiled at her. "And hey, now you get to return the favor by taking care of Rafe in return, right?"

Hope nodded. "Right! Though, he's so whiny about a simple broken leg and arm. It's not exactly fun hearing his complaints!"

Jen rolled her eyes. "Men! They act so tough and macho until they get hurt, then suddenly they are five years old again."

Hope nodded. "Tell me about it! I guess he's just frustrated he can't go back to police work until he is completely healed. Roman won't even let him do paperwork! It's killing Rafe. Though, he did break the arm attached to his writing hand and his other hand writes as messy as a five-year-old's, so I can see why Roman won't let him."

"Well, he only has two or three more weeks until the casts come off, right?" Jen asked.

Hope nodded. "Right!"

"He'll be fine then," Jen said.

"Yes, but the question is, will _I_ be?" Hope joked.

Jen laughed. "True."

It was time for dinner to start then, so they all headed to the table. Rafe had already been sitting at the table, talking to Steve.

As they all sat down to eat, Caroline said a prayer of thanks, and then they all went around taking turns saying what they were thankful for.

"I'm thankful that Bo allowed me to take his place, and be the love of Hope's life. She is the best gift I've ever been given! Heck, I even get two step kids along with her!" Rafe said when it came his turn.

Hope smiled weakly, though she didn't like the way he had stated that. Bo was the love of her life. Rafe could never replace him. She loved Rafe, yes, but would she ever love him as much as Bo? Never. She suddenly felt like an object or money that just been given away in a will.

Everyone was now looking at her to see what she was thankful for.

She put on a smile, and gently squeezed Rafe's hand. "I'm happy for two healthy children, and of course for finding love again after the love of my life left this world." She didn't mean to sound like she was throwing shade at Rafe. She just wanted it to be made known that Bo was the love of her life. Rafe was never going to come close to the love she had with Bo or even with Aiden.

She suddenly felt her heart sink. " _Or even with Aiden?" What the heck is_ that _supposed to mean?_ She asked herself. She shook her head. She wasn't thinking clearly. She always missed Bo even more around this time of year since it had been the anniversary of his death just before. It made her thoughts jumbled. That had to be why she had added Aiden's name, she knew.

Once everyone had said what they were thankful for, they all dug into their food, and Hope shook all thoughts of Aiden from her mind.

 _ **~*Came back to me.*~**_

Aiden didn't feel much like having a Thanksgiving feast. Not only had he lost Hope seemingly forever, but also, it was his first Thanksgiving without Chase. Well, besides the one he had spent locked up when he was held captive by the Dimeras that is. Even so, as weird as he knew it was, he wanted to have a Thanksgiving meal with Chase. So, he had gone to Denny's and gotten a turkey dinner to go. It had all the trimmings. He even got a slice of pumpkin pie. He also got a Pepsi to go. Then, he headed to the cemetery. He was bundled up so that he wouldn't freeze as he ate. He had even brought a blanket along, so he laid the blanket out in front of Chase's grave, and sat down on top of the blanket with his food. He was thankful that at least it wasn't snowing.

He stared at Chase's gravestone. "Hello, Son. Happy Thanksgiving! I know you're having a huge feast up in Heaven with Jesus, God, and the angels. I also know it's way better than anything I'm eating. I figured I'd eat with you if you don't mind. You see, this is our first Thanksgiving without each other—not counting the one I was held captive during of course. Anyway, it just didn't seem right spending Thanksgiving without you or eating my meal without you."

He said a quick prayer of thanks for his food, then began to eat. "It's over between Hope and me, you know. Hers and Rafe's marriage therapist doesn't think it's good for her to keep any contact with me. Of course she agreed not to. You know, I really thought she and I were going to get another chance. She seemed like she was falling for me again. Heck, she was so angry with Rafe the night their twins died that she wanted me to make love to her. I know, I know, if you were here you'd say 'TMI, Dad!'. I apologize. I just don't know how things could go from good to bad so quickly! I think Rafe is guilting her into staying with him because Bo gave Hope to him—as if she's some possession to pass on when you're done with her." Aiden rolled his eyes. "I don't know. I could just be bitter. You know what? No more talk about Hope and Rafe! This is our time together."

Aiden laughed. "Remember that time your mother got so upset because she had slaved over the oven all day and was so proud of making her first turkey? She dropped it on the floor and was almost in tears until you started laughing hysterically. It made her smile too, and soon we were all laughing. Needless to say, we had Chinese that night. Well, you had macaroni and cheese or something like that. You were only three at the time, so you might not even remember it. It was before your mother started drinking even. It was back when things were still good." He ate a little bit more. "Remember that one Thanksgiving that you and I were snowed in at my office? I worked so late on an important case I was working on. I usually don't work on Thanksgiving, but that case was just so important! You waited for me in my office, playing video games on mute. When I was finally ready to leave, we realized we were snowed in. Who would have thought the weather would get that bad before December even hit, right? Our Thanksgiving feast that night consisted of two Snickers bars, two bags of chips, a couple of Pop-Tarts, and two Pepsi's each!" We had fun though. You even taught me how to beat the Goblin lord on your video game. You know, even without our traditional meal, I still think that was one of the best Thanksgivings we ever spent together."

Aiden sighed as he finished his dinner. It seemed like everything good in his life was taken from him. He sometimes wondered if God was still angry with him for the way he had acted in the past.

He sighed again. All he could do was keep on trying to better himself. Then maybe God would finally forgive him.

"Onto dessert!" He said with a weak smile at Chase's grave.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

"You're leaving already?" Caroline asked as Hope stood up and put her coat back on.

Hope nodded. "We're going to Rafe's father's house. We agreed to do dinner here, but then go to Edwardo's to have pie with him, Dario, and Gabi. Adrianna is even in town to join us."

"Well, at least have a small slice of the apple pie I made. I worked hard on it!" Caroline said to her and Rafe.

"I suppose a small piece won't stuff me too much!" Rafe said with a grin.

Hope smiled, and sat back down.

They then spend the next ten minutes eating their pie, and socializing with her family again.

"Mm, that really was delicious, Caroline. Thank you!" Hope said. "But we really must be going."

Rafe nodded, and pat his stomach with his good hand. "So delicious! Thank you."

Caroline smiled. "Did you expect anything less than delicious from me?"

Rafe and Hope both laughed.

"No, not at all!" Hope said.

Rafe shook his head in agreement.

After hugs and goodbyes (along with wishes of Happy Thanksgiving), Hope and Rafe left, Hope wheeling Rafe out. She then helped him into the car, and they left for the cemetery. They wanted to visit the twins before heading to Eduardo's.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

Aiden finished his pie, and now that he wasn't eating, he started to notice the weather more than he had before. It was really cold.

He rubbed his arms. He was cold, but still wanted to stay and talk to Chase for a little bit longer. However, he saw a car pulling up and when he saw who was getting out, he knew it was time to go.

Hope looked over at him, and their eyes locked as she got out of the car.

Aiden quickly looked away. He then stood up and gathered up his trash and his blanket. "I'm sorry, Son, but Hope doesn't like to be in the same vicinity as me. I better go now. I had a chance to talk to you, but she didn't get the chance to talk to her twins today yet. At least, I'm guessing she didn't." He leaned down at kissed the top of Chase's stone, then gently rubbed it. "I'll come see you again tomorrow." He looked up and his eyes met with Hope's again. She was watching him as she got Rafe's wheelchair out of the trunk. She looked sad.

Aiden quickly looked away then left, going the long way around to his car just to avoid running into Hope and Rafe.

 _ **~*came back to me*~**_

Hope couldn't get Aiden out of her mind as she and Rafe talked to the twins. I also made her think of Rafe's neglect being what caused the death of the twins. She knew Rafe felt bad enough about it. She wasn't angry with him anymore. Still, she would always blame him just a little bit for their death. She also remembered how sweet Aiden had been with the twins. It broke her heart even more thinking of how she had treated Aiden lately.

She thought of how quickly he had taken off once he saw her and Rafe arrive at the cemetery. She felt bad. She hadn't meant he had to leave even if he was talking to his son! He had been there first even! She felt like even more of a monster of interrupting his time with his son—on Thanksgiving nonetheless!

After they had talked to the twins, they headed on over to Rafe's father's house.

"Hey, hey, hey! Happy Thanksgiving!" Eduardo said, giving his son a hug, then Hope a hug and a kiss on the cheek.

"Happy Thanksgiving!" Rafe said with a smile.

"Happy Thanksgiving!" Hope also wished.

"I bet you can't wait to get out of that thing, huh?" Eduardo asked, nodding toward Rafe's wheelchair. "If I know you, it's killing you to not be able to work."

"You know your son very well!" Hope said.

"Well, that's good. It shows I didn't raise a lazy son!" Eduardo said.

"Excuse me, but I did most of the raising!" Adrianna said, coming into the room. She hugged Rafe, and kissed his forehead. "Happy Thanksgiving, my handsome son!"

Rafe smiled, and kissed his mother on the cheek. "Happy Thanksgiving, my beautiful mother!"

Adrianna smiled.

"I still raised him for some of his life," Eduardo grumbled.

"Until you left us!" Adrianna reminded him.

"You're still on about that? You know it was for your own good," he said.

"Then you started another family with that Eve woman. "Ai-yi-yi!" Adrianna said, her arms crossed over her chest.

"Guys, can we please not argue on Thanksgiving?" Gabi asked, coming in with Arianna.

Dario nodded, also coming into the room. "I agree. Let's just enjoy our family time together."

Eduardo and Adrianna both apologized.

Hope and Rafe greeted Gabi, little Arianna, and Dario, and wished them all a Happy Thanksgiving.

Gabi, Arianna, and Dario greeted them in return, as well as wished them Happy Thanksgiving.

They then all sat down to eat.

Hope had a slice of pumpkin pie, but then was starting to get full. Thinking of how sad Aiden had looked at the cemetery had made her lose her appetite.

She stood up. "I'll be right back. I want to go visit the twins again."

"But we just visited them before coming here," Rafe said, looking confused.

"I wanted to visit Bo's grave too. I didn't even think to visit it when we were there. I also think it's best I visit him alone," she said.

Rafe nodded. "All right. I understand. Take your time, and come back here when you're done."

Hope nodded. "Will do." She then walked over to Rafe and softly kissed him on the lips. She smiled at everyone else. "I'll be back."

She then left for the cemetery, knowing already that it wouldn't be the only stop she'd be making.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

Hope drove to Aiden's with determination. She had to see him. She had to apologize for inadvertently making him leave his son's grave.

She thought back to ten minutes before, when she had talked to Bo at his grave.

 _Placing her hand over Bo's grave, she smiled weakly. "Happy Thanksgiving, my Love. I miss you. I always miss you, but I miss you especially around this time of year." She sighed. "I hope you are taking care of RJ and Faith up there. I just feel so lost lately. I'm lost without them, and I'm lost without you. I now feel lost without Aiden. I know you wanted me to be with Rafe, but… I just can't seem to shake my feelings for Aiden. I was scared of being hurt again. I guess that is why I refused to believe him the last time he was here. It was also why I didn't trust him. I never really stopped to think that maybe I really was in love with him more than Rafe. After all, it was Aiden I chose when he first came back; not Rafe. I think that says something right there, don't you? It's not that I don't love Rafe. I do love him. I just think I got confused on the kind of love I felt for him."_

 _She sighed. "Oh, Bo! I just don't know what to do! Rafe has been so good to me! What kind of person would I be if I were to leave him? Yet, I can't stay away from Aiden. I just can't! I wish you were still here. I love you so much and I'll never stop! I just… I don't know what I'm doing anymore. You were my compass. Now, I feel like I'm just wandering around in this world with no true sense of direction."_

Hope arrived at Aiden's condo, parked, and turned off the motor. She had stayed and talked with Bo a little bit more; having reminisced on happy Thanksgivings of the past they had spent together. Then she had left. Now, here she was at Aiden's, still not knowing for certain why she was here, but knowing that she had to be here. It's where her heart was telling her to go.

She got out of the car and locked it up, then headed up to his condo. When she got there, knocked on his door.

He opened it up, looking surprised. "Hope, what are you doing here?"

"I had to see you," she said in almost a whisper.

"Come in," he said, motioning her in.

"Thank you," she said, entering his condo.

He shut and locked the door behind her, then turned back to her. "I thought we had to cut all ties off? I'm not supposed to leave my own condo because you're here, am I?" He smirked to show he was joking, though Hope suspected a part of him might be worried she really did expect him to leave his own condo.

Hope shook her head, and pushed some hair behind her ear. "Don't be ridiculous. I actually came to uh…" She paused, not really knowing what to say. She supposed she'd go with what had triggered her visit. "I just wanted to apologize to you for causing you to leave your son's grave early. I know I told you to go the other way when you see me, but that doesn't mean the cemetery. Anyway you were there first! _I_ could have left if I didn't like it."

Aiden shook his head. "I had my time with him. No worries. I know it sounds silly, but I brought over a Thanksgiving dinner from Denny's and had a little picnic in front of his grave. It's my first Thanksgiving without Chase other than when I was held captive. I just wanted to still feel like I was eating with him. It's really dumb, I know." He looked down at the floor.

Hope walked over to him. "Actually, I think that's the sweetest thing I ever heard," she said quietly.

Aiden looked up at her.

Hope blushed. She hadn't realized how closely she had chosen to stand in front of him. Their lips were almost touching.

"I hope you had a nice Thanksgiving," Aiden said to her. He didn't move away from her. "Where does Rafe think you are?"

"At Bo's grave. I visited Bo's grave but then I had to come see you," Hope admitted.

"Why?" Aiden asked, his eyes boring into hers with a hungry look in them.

"Because I wanted to apologize for causing you to leave the cemetery," she said, a little nervous now, though she didn't know why.

"Mission accomplished. Is there another reason you came here?" he asked, reaching out and gently pushing some stray hair behind her ear. His eyes were still locked with hers.

"No, I, uh… Maybe," she said.

"What is it?" His tone was dripping with as much desire for her as his eyes were. "I'm sorry. I know I shouldn't be saying this, but you are so unbelievably beautiful. I can't help it! I still love you, Hope, and I know you must still have _some_ feelings for me at least; otherwise you wouldn't still be here."

"Aiden…" Hope looked away.

Aide sighed. "I know! Like I said, I'm sorry. I'm trying to give you up, Hope, but it's not easy! You know, maybe we _should_ cut of all contact. I still don't think I'll get over you, but I'll have a better chance of it than I would still seeing you around all the time."

Hope looked at him. "Is that what you want?" she asked in almost a whisper.

Aiden shook his head. "Of course it's not what I want! I love you more than life itself, Hope! I think I proved that when I couldn't go through with killing you despite the threat to my life—and my sons' life for that matter! Hope, it's impossible for me to ever stop loving you, but I will keep my distance and let you be with Rafe if that's truly what your heart wants."

Hope felt her heart pounding, and before she knew it, she was speaking the words. "No, that's not what my heart wants at all." Then, as if her body had a mind of its own, she grabbed Aiden by the collar and kissed him more passionately than she had ever kissed him before, and it felt better than ever before as well.

She then started pushing him backwards in the direction of the bedroom.

Aiden broke the kiss, panting for air. "Are you sure?" he asked her.

Hope nodded. " _So_ sure! Now, shut up and kiss me some more..."

Aiden didn't have to be told twice! He kissed her lips, and then down her neck.

Hope closed her eyes, panting with desire for Aiden as he kissed down her neck. Boy how she had missed that! She knew this was wrong, but it didn't feel wrong at all. In fact, it felt like the most right thing she had done in quite a while!

Aiden picked her up and carried her to the bedroom with them kissing passionately the whole way there, and Hope's hands over his cheeks as she kissed him, her whole body soul, and mind aching for him.


	22. S1E22

_**This Love…**_

 _ **Season 1 Episode 22: King of Wishful Thinking**_

 _Please don't let this be a dream…_ Aiden thought as he made love to Hope. Finally, after all this time of waiting for her to love him again, and for her to want him again, she finally did.

He pinned her wrists above her head the way he knew she loved. He kissed down the side of her neck, reveling in the sound of her whispered moans of pleasure.

Their lips met, and she tangled her fingers in his hair as they continued to make love.

He moved his kisses back down to her neck and her fingers pressed lightly against the back of his neck, her head thrown back in pleasure as his lips then roamed everywhere they could currently reach.

"I love you so much, Hope," he murmured in her ear.

"I love you too," she said, looking deep into his eyes, her eyes filled with love and desire for him.

Aiden's heart swelled with even more love for her than he ever could imagine. He hadn't seen her look at him like that since… Well, he couldn't remember when.

He continued to make love to her, concentrating on giving her as much pleasure as he could. Not that she wasn't making him feel good, for she most definitely was, but he cared more about her pleasure than his. He wanted to show her with more than just words exactly how much he truly loved her. In fact, he was willing to bet his life on it that he loved her far more than Rafe ever did, or ever would for that matter.

Her back arched and her fingers dug gently into his lower back as she softly called his name out. It was one of the things he loved about her; she was so soft spoken when he made love to her. She always had been. He found it adorable and irresistible.

He continued to make love to her, feeling near the end himself, but wanting to make sure he gave Hope everything she needed.

When it was over, she kissed his shoulder, and then their lips met.

For quite a while, they just lay in each other's arms, kissing softly with no words needed.

Eventually Hope lay down beside him. "Making love with you was even better than I remembered it to be," she said breathily, looking extremely relaxed.

"And making love to you was everything I remembered it to be and more," Aiden said, moving closer to her and kissing down the side of her neck. "I love you so much, Hope. I don't even think you can comprehend how much I love you."

Hope turned to face him. She propped her head up with her hand and elbow, and smiled. She gently stroked his cheek. "I love you too, Aiden. Despite what I've said in the past, I don't think I ever truly fell out of love with you. I just never wanted to admit it before."

They kissed some more, then Hope lay down on his chest and closed her eyes. "I think that tryptophan from the turkey is kicking in…" she murmured.

"Then sleep, my love," he murmured, gently stroking her hair. He kissed the top of her head, and soon felt her body relaxing in his arms.

He sighed happily. He then kissed the top of her head one more time before letting sleep overtake him as well.

 _ **~*came back to me*~**_

As Hope slept, she began to dream of Bo…

 _She was dancing around in a beautiful white dress, so happy to finally be back with Aiden, when suddenly Bo appeared before her._

 _"Bo!" She said. She ran to him to hug him, but her arms went right through him._

 _He gave her a sheepish smile, and shrugged. "Sorry, Fancy Face, but I'm a spirit now. You know that. As much as I'd love for you to be able to hug me, and for me to be able to hug you, we can't."_

 _"Why are you here? There must be a reason, right?" Hope asked with a nervous smile._

 _Bo smirked. "What? I can't come just to visit my wife? Well, ex-wife now, but still, always the love of my life."_

 _Hope shrugged. "Maybe. But I've known you far too long for you to lie to me, Brady. I know that look in your eyes. You have something you want to say to me."_

 _Bo slowly nodded. "All right, you caught me."_

 _"So, what is it?" Hope asked gently, wishing so badly she could touch Bo without her hands falling through his shoulders, chest, or waist._

 _"I'm concerned, Hope. Why did you just sleep with Aiden? Cheating on your husband has never been something you would do. So, why now?"_

 _Hope blushed. "You saw that?"_

 _"Once you get to be up in Heaven, you have a way of knowing things without having to actually see them," Bo explained._

 _Hope looked away; suddenly feeling too guilty to look Bo in the eyes. "I know it was wrong to cheat on Rafe." She looked at Bo again. "You're right. That usually is so the opposite of who I am! But I couldn't help myself! I love Aiden! I just can't seem to shake my feelings for him, and honestly, I don't even want to."_

 _"Fancy Face, I have to say, I'm disappointed in you. Me being disappointed in you doesn't happen often, if ever, but this time I am. I'm also a little sad." Bo looked her in the eyes._

 _Hope teared up, for he had tears in his eyes. "Is it because I cheated?"_

 _Bo nodded. "A little. But it's mainly because you didn't trust my choice for you. I asked Rafe to look out for you knowing that he would take my place. Rafe is who I want you to be with; not Aiden. I mean, Fancy Face, after all the lies Aiden told you, after his planning to kill you for your insurance policy… Yeah, yeah, I get it. He did it to protect his son, and ended up not even being able to go through with it. But he should have trusted you and gone to you, Roman, or even Rafe, instead of agreeing to kill you! Then, when he came back, he blackmailed you. Rafe would never do any of those things to you. In fact, think of all the good things he did for you! He helped you covered up Stefano's murder so that you wouldn't have to go to jail. He was even willing to go to jail for so you wouldn't have to go. He rescued you when those tunnels were bombed. He worked hard to get you out of prison. Did Aiden do any of that? No! Unlike Rafe who goes out of his way to protect you, Aiden went out of his way to hurt you. A man like Aiden Jennings is not who I want you to be with!"_

 _The tears were spilling down Hope's cheeks now. "I'm sorry!" she said in a whisper._

 _"It's okay. You know nothing you could ever do will ever make me stop loving you. But, Fancy Face, you need to break things off with Aiden for good. You also need to go back to Rafe and be the kind of wife he both wants and deserves. Forget about Aiden! He's nothing but trouble for you. You should know that by now." Bo started to flicker._

 _"Bo, don't go. Not yet!" Hope reached out for him. "Please!"_

 _Bo smiled, and shook his head. "I have to, Fancy Face. My time on earth it done. But you still have plenty of years left on this earth—years that need to be spent with Rafe; not Aiden. Okay?"_

 _Hope nodded. "Okay," she whispered._

 _"I love you. And don't worry, Hope. We'll be together again one day. I promise." Bo blew her a kiss, and then vanished._

 _Hope pretended to catch the kiss, tears still streaming down her cheeks. "Don't go!" She whispered._

Hope woke up with tears streaming down her cheeks in reality.

"Don't worry. I'm not going anywhere," Aiden said, gently stroking her cheek.

She realized she must have been saying "don't go" in her sleep.

She looked over and saw Aiden smiling at her. He was lying down next to her, facing her, and gently stroking her cheek with the back of his hand.

Hope instantly remembered her dream. As much as she loved Aiden, she knew what she had to do. She had to go back to Rafe. It was what Bo wanted. Unfortunately, she knew the only way Aiden was going to let her go was if she acted horrible to him.

 _I'm sorry, Aiden…_ she thought to herself, feeling like bawling, but knowing she had to play it cool in order to get him to believe her.

"Hey, what are those tears for? Bad dream?" Aiden gently wiped away her tears with his thumbs, and kissed her damp cheeks. "Wanna tell me about it?"

Hope responded by getting out of bed, and redressing. "I'm crying because I can't believe what a huge mistake I just made!" she said as she clasped her bra. She had already put her underwear back on.

Aiden sat up. "Wait, a mistake? What do you mean, a mistake?"

Hope looked at him coldly as she put her shirt back on. "What do you think I mean? I just cheated on my husband with you of all people!"

Aiden scrunched his eyebrows in confusion. "Me of all people… Hope, what's going on? I'm confused! Before you fell asleep, you said you were in love with me. You wanted to be with me, and you certainly didn't seem to regret anything!"

"I hate to break it to you, Aiden, but I was just saying what I knew you wanted to hear. I'm always in a good mood after sex. You should know that." She finished buttoning her shirt up, and grabbed her pants.

Aiden wasn't buying it. "Hope, I know, you. You weren't just saying what I wanted to hear. You meant every word you said to me. Why the sudden change?"

Hope sighed in exasperation as she slipped her pants on. "Honestly, now that I got you out of my system, it cleared my head. I realize I love Rafe more than I ever loved you."

She narrowed her eyes at Aiden as she blindly zipped and buttoned her pants back up. "All you've ever done is hurt me. You were paid to date me."

"But I fell in love with you," Aiden argued.

"You were going to kill me," she reminded him.

"Because my son's life was threatened. I was afraid that if I went to you or anyone else, Chase would be killed on the spot. You know how the Dimera's are! I mean, look at all the pain and suffering they caused your family and friends over the years! Anyway, despite the threat to my son's life, I couldn't go through with it. And before you bring up the fact that I tried taking the insurance money from your kids, again, I felt it was the only way to save my son. You would have chosen your kids over Chase any time, and you know it!" Aiden reasoned.

"You still lied to me even when you got back!" Hope snapped, putting her socks and ankle boots back on.

"Because I didn't want to lose you!" Aiden snapped back.

Hope narrowed her eyes at him again. "You blackmailed me."

"I later came to my senses and let you go," Aiden reminded her.

"Apparently you didn't! Instead of just staying the hell away from Salem, you had to come back and stalk me!" Hope yelled.

"Hope, it wasn't like that!" Aiden tried.

Hope raised an eyebrow. "Really, Aiden? Then how was it? Hm?"

Aiden didn't know what to say.

Hope nodded. "That's what I thought! Now you seduced me into sleeping with you again! You just keep causing problems in my marriage! It's like you've got this sick obsession and won't let me be happy unless it's with you! Well, it needs to stop, Aiden. It needs to stop right now!" Hope was shaking now, her fists at her sides. She knew to Aiden it would look like she was shaking out of anger. But the reality was, she was so upset to be talking to Aiden like this, that is was literally making her shake.

Aiden had tears in his own eyes now. "Need I remind you, I let you alone when you asked me to? It was _you_ that came _here_ tonight, remember? I asked you if you were sure. You said yes. _You_ were the one who initiated us making love; not me."

"Oh, so now you're calling me a slut?" Hope asked; sounding even angrier.

Aiden shook his head. "What? Okay, now you're just putting words in my mouth! I would never call you a slut! Not ever!"

Hope rolled her eyes. "I think you should just leave town, Aiden. Nobody wants you here in Salem—especially not me."

Aiden shook his head, suddenly tired of this. "Tough! My son's body is here, and I will not exhume him and move him just to please you; not when you're going to treat me this way. Also, I just put a lot of work into my new law firm, and I'll be dammed if I let you ruin that for me. If you don't like seeing me around, then _you_ move!"

Hope had to take a minute to gather herself. Aiden had never snapped at her that way before. Well, maybe briefly when he had blackmailed her and she had given him trouble about it, but that was the extent of it. She had finally pushed him to his limit. She supposed everyone had one. After all, even the nicest of people could be pushed over the edge, she knew. She knew that more than anybody.

"Goodbye, Aiden," she said coldly once she was able to speak again without crying. She then stormed into the living room, grabbed her purse, unlocked the door, and left, slamming the door loudly behind her.

 _ **~*came back to me*~**_

Aiden couldn't believe what had just happened. He supposed he should have known not to count his chickens before they hatched. This was just one more good thing that had been taken from him.

He looked up Heavenward. "Very funny, God! You got me!" He threw himself back down on the bed. He hated himself for still loving Hope. However, no matter how horribly she treated him, he couldn't just turn his feelings off like a light switch. Even so, he was beginning to think he deserved better than Hope. After all, Hope wasn't exactly Mother Theresa. She was certainly no saint. She had made her fair share of mistakes in the past—some of them were doozies—and yet she still wasn't willing to forgive him. She expected people to forgive her, but she didn't want to forgive him. She was willing to forgive everyone else for worse crimes, but she wouldn't forgive him for telling some lies, and for not wanting to lose his son or her. The thing was, he had no doubt she would have acted just as erratically to save Ciara or Shawn. But, no. He himself was a monster for wanting to protect _his_ child.

Aiden decided right then and there that he deserved better than Hope. If she wanted to treat him like dirt all the while acting like Little Miss Perfect, then forget her! She was so willing to forgive everyone but him? Well, he had news for her. He was done forgiving _her_! She didn't deserve his love! Sure he hadn't been the best man in the past, but he was trying to change. He deserved better. And now, after Hope's outburst, it was the last straw. He would get over her if it was the last thing he did!

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

Hope arrived back at Eduardo's two and a half hours after she had left.

"Where the hell were you?" was Rafe's greeting when she arrived. "I was so worried about you!" Surely you didn't spend two and a half hours at the cemetery!"

"And don't lie! Eduardo went and checked, and you weren't there," Adrianna said, giving her the stink eye that Hope had learned to expect from her.

Hope looked around. Gabi and Arianna had left, as had Dario apparently, for they were nowhere to be found.

Eduardo and Adrianna were staring at her as intently as Rafe was.

"Rafe, can I talk to you alone? Please?" she asked quietly. She knew she had to tell him. They would have no marriage with a lie like this looming around it.

"Anything you have to say to my son, you can say to me," Adrianna said.

"Ma…" Rafe trailed off.

"Let's clean up the kitchen together. I'll help. Let them have their private talk," Eduardo said, gently leading Adrianna to the kitchen.

"Well, all right! But only because this is the only time you've ever offered to help me clean!" Adrianna said.

Rafe gave his father a nod of thanks.

Eduardo nodded back a "you're welcome".

Hope then wheeled Rafe into his old bedroom, and parked him in front of the foot of the bed. Eduardo now owned his old place.

"So, where were you?" Rafe asked. "And if you say Aiden's, I swear to God…"

Hope had tears in her eyes as she decided to just come out with it. "I slept with him," she whispered.

Rafe immediately looked angry. "Say what?"

"I'm _so_ sorry, Rafe! It will never happen again! I promise! I just really needed to get him out of my system. I told him to leave Salem. He won't, but that's what I told him. I also told him I don't want him here. After sleeping with him, I felt disgusted! I can't believe I thought he was what I wanted. I feel like I could throw up just _thinking_ about sleeping with him now." She looked Rafe in the eyes. "Never again, Rafe! I promise! Just please don't leave me over this! Please forgive me!" She literally knelt down at his feet, and clasped her hands together; begging him. "Please, Rafe. Don't leave me. I'm begging you. I can't… I can't live without you!" She was crying; crying because she missed Aiden already, crying because she had hurt Aiden, and crying because she knew she had also hurt Rafe now as well. Also, she had made Bo disappointed in her.

Rafe was quiet for a long while, then finally, he spoke. "I will forgive you for this under one condition."

"What condition? Name it!" Hope looked him in the eyes, and sat up a little straighter; suddenly more hopeful now.

"You need to forgive me for the twins' death. Unlike you sleeping with Aiden, it was an accident. Did I act irresponsibly? Yes. But I beat myself up over it every day of my life! I don't need you giving me even more guilt. Trust me, I have enough guilt over it as it is. I even called my FBI friend back after the twins' funeral and told him to drop the investigation on Aiden."

Hope shook her head. "Done. It was an accident. I know you never would have purposely put their lives in danger. It could have happened to anyone."

Rafe nodded. "Now, stand up and hug me. But gently! I don't want to be in this thing any longer than I need to be."

Hope grinned. "So I'm forgiven?"

Rafe smirked. "For what?"

Hope cried out in happiness, then kissed him passionately on the lips. "You won't regret this," she promised him, gently resting her forehead against his.

"Let's hope not," Rafe said, gently rubbing her back.


	23. S1E23

_**This Love…**_

 _ **Season 1 Episode 23: Blue Christmas**_

Just over a month had passed, and it was now Christmas Eve. Aiden had gone to church after dinner. He went to a Baptist church. He had been raised Baptist and not catholic actually. He had only put Chase into St. Luke's because that is where Ciara had went, and at the time, he had been paid to get Hope to fall for him. Instead, he had ended up falling harder for her than he had ever fallen for anyone else. A lot of good that had done him.

Another reason he had avoided going to St. Luke's for their midnight mass was that he knew Hope and Rafe would be there. The last thing he needed right now was to see Hope and Rafe together. Even seeing just Hope would have soured his mood.

At least, he figured, Baptists churches had their Christmas Eve services earlier—six-thirty! He certainly would not have liked going to church at midnight even with Christmas Eve services tending to be rather short.

After the sermon, he went to the grave to talk to Chase. Then, after that, he headed to the café for a hot chocolate before heading home. He planned on getting into his pajamas, then hibernating underneath the covers with a good Christmas movie. Christmas was his favorite holiday. He refused to let the way Hope had treated him ruin it.

He had avoided Hope like the plague ever since she had walked out on him. He had only seen her once, and when he had, he rolled his eyes and her and turned the other way. He had been tempted to give her the finger, but supposed that wouldn't have been very mature of him…even if she did deserve it! He smirked at the thought.

"Hey, you! You know, whenever I see you, you always look sad. What gives?" Amy asked as she poured him his hot chocolate. She added extra marshmallows and whipped cream just as he liked.

"Same ol', same ol'!" he said with a sigh.

She raised an eyebrow. "Let me guess—Hope."

Aiden nodded. "That would be it!" He handed her the money. "Thank you."

"Hey, are you going to the Christmas ball tomorrow? I know it sounds kind of lame, but it also seems kind of cool. I'm always looking for an excuse to dress up! This would be the perfect place."

"I wasn't planning on it. I'd feel like a loser going to a ball by myself," Aiden said. He carefully sipped his hot chocolate, then blew on it, for it was a little too hot.

"Well, what if I go with you?" Amy asked.

Aiden looked at her with scrunched eyebrows. "What about Tony? Or didn't that ever become anything?"

Amy nodded. "Oh, we're together now. You're one of the only weirdos who ever rejected me." She smiled and winked at him to show there were no hard feelings. "He's just out of town at his great Uncle Sal's funeral." She rolled her eyes. "He barely even knew that uncle. Seriously, who has a funeral on Christmas anyway? Talk about putting a damper on the holiday! He knew I wanted to go to this ball, but he still insisted on going to the funeral of his great uncle he barely knows. You know, he can be so selfish sometimes!"

Aiden smirked. Only Amy would say something like that. Yet, he knew she didn't mean anything by it. He cleared his throat. "I guess I could go with you." Truth be told, he still felt bad about the way things had ended between them. Calling out Hope's name when he was supposed to be with her was not cool and he knew it! Even so, Amy was not the right woman for him. He really wasn't interested in dating again—at least not right now. "But we'd just be going as friends, right?"

Amy nodded. "Of course! Even though he's selfish, he's damn cute, so I won't break it off with Tony over the funeral thing. Why, _you_ don't want to date me again, do you?" she asked, an eyebrow raised.

Aiden shook his head. "No, I'm not really up for dating anyone anymore."

"You still didn't tell me what happened between you and Hope," Amy reminded him.

"Oh, look! A line is forming. I better get out of the way. I'll pick you up tomorrow at six. Bye!" Aiden said, quickly taking off before Amy could force it out of him.

"This isn't over, Jennings! I will get it out of you tomorrow. You know that, right?" Amy called after him.

Aiden didn't look back, but held a hand up in a wave goodbye.

He sighed. Oh, he had no doubt she would!

 _ **~*came back to me…*~**_

Rafe had gotten his cast off a week prior, but was still not given the okay to be intimate with Hope…until now. The doctor had wanted him to wait a week just to be sure his bones were completely healed. But now, it had been a week since getting his cats removed, and he was more than ready to be intimate with Hope again.

It felt so good to finally be out of the casts and the wheelchair! He had missed being with Hope in every way possible. Now more than ever he needed to be with her. He still wasn't happy she had slept with Aiden Jennings. Even so, he knew that because he was responsible for the twins' deaths so to speak, he couldn't really be casting stones. If Hope could forgive him for the death of their children, then he could certainly forgive her for a one-night-stand with Aiden. As long as one night was all it was.

Tomorrow there was going to be a Christmas ball in the square. Everyone was supposed to dress to the nines and dance the night away. There would be food and raffles as well. There would also be a bonfire.

Hope really wanted to go, so he had agreed. At least, he knew, they wouldn't have to dress up in ridiculous costumes this time.

He had a trick up his sleeve though. He had a romantic night planned for Hope. Once they got back from the Christmas Eve Ball, he would surprise her with a room full of candles and rose petals, and they would finally make love after all this time of having to wait. He'd make her forget all about Aiden Jennings! He would have had their special night be tonight, but he figured after the Christmas ball would make it more romantic. Besides, they were bound to be exhausted after church.

Right now, they were at the Horton house, hanging ornaments before heading off to church for midnight mass.

It was Hope's, Ciara's, Shawn's, and Rafe's turns to hang their ornaments now. With teary-eyes, Hope hung Bo's, and then Zack's, ornament after hanging her own. After that, Shawn hung his ornament and Claire's. Claire was spending Christmas in New York this year with Belle. Belle and Shawn alternated when it came to who got Claire for Christmas. This year it was Belle's turn.

Next, Rafe hung his ornament. He and Hope smiled at each other and squeezed each other's hand. Then, when Julie brought over the box carrying the twins' ornaments, Hope and Rafe both teared up and grabbed the beautiful ornaments.

The twins had been born in January, so they hadn't had ornaments yet. These ornaments were pink for Faith, and blue for RJ. Both ornaments had a beautiful angel on one side, and angel wings above their names on the other side.

"I ordered them special," Julie said gently.

"Thank you!" Hope said. She hugged Julie tightly. "They're beautiful!"

Rafe then hugged Julie too. "Yes, thank you. They're perfect!"

"You're welcome!" Julie said with a sad smile.

Hope then hung Faith's ornament at the same time Rafe hung RJ's ornament.

They then stepped back and let everyone else who needed to hang an ornament hang one.

Hope still had tears running down her cheeks, once they had finished.

"Come here." Rafe held her close and gently stroked her hair. "It will be all right. With each year that passes, it will hurt a little less."

Hope nodded, though she still looked sad.

Rafe then handed her one of Alice's infamous donuts that Jen had made. There was a bunch of them on a plate on the coffee table. "Here. You can't stay sad after eating one of these things, right?" He grinned.

Hope grinned, and took the donut from him. "Right," she said softly. She then ate the donut, and Rafe went and got her some egg nog to go with it.

"Thank you," Hope said, taking the drink when he offered it to her. She drank it and finished her donut.

"Well, now that the ornaments have all been hung, let's get to church! Shall we?" Julie asked everyone. She grabbed her coat.

Everyone voiced their agreement, and began putting their coats and boots on.

As they left, Rafe placed a hand over Hope's back.

They both looked back at the twins' ornaments on the tree before leaving the living room, and heading out the door for church.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

It was Christmas evening now, and time for the Christmas ball. Rafe had gotten Hope a beautiful diamond bracelet with the matching necklace and earrings to go with it. She was wearing them tonight with her ball gown. It was red and tiered with silver sparkles over the skirt and bodice. It was strapless, but she had a sheer silver shawl to wear over it. She had metallic silver heels on as well, and her nails and lips were a beautiful red that matched the dress.

Rafe was wearing a red tie with a silver suit. His shirt was also silver. On his feet were black dress shoes with red socks.

"You look gorgeous in your jewelry," Rafe said to her. He kissed her cheek from behind.

She smiled. "Thank you again for them. I love them! Ciara was so jealous when she saw them. It was so nice of you to get her a set of her own."

"Well, I knew she'd want a set too, so couldn't resist buying her one as well," Rafe said. "By the way, I love the gold Rolex and all the black shirts you got me. I've never seen fleece-lined long-sleeved shirts before! They will keep me so warm this winter!"

"I am glad you like them. Though, you already have about fifty black shirts," Hope said with a smirk. She turned around to face him and rubbed his chest.

Rafe shrugged. "What can I say? I love black shirts! They go with everything, and it's just what I prefer. I've never been a huge fan of colorful things. At least not on myself. I feel like a clown when I wear too much color."

 _That's because you_ are _a clown!_ Hope smirked as she could hear Aiden's voice in her head insulting him.

Rafe grinned. "What?"

Hope pat his chest. "Nothing!" She kissed his cheek, then wiped the lipstick mark off it. "Let's go to the ball. Shall we?"

He kissed her hand. "But of course!" he said in a bad French accent.

She giggled, then they headed out together.

 _ **~*came back to me*~**_

"You really do look beautiful," Aiden said to Amy when they arrived at the square for the Christmas ball.

Amy grinned. "I know." She was wearing a silk, emerald green dress that went to the floor and billowed around her. It had a sash-like layer on the skirt of the dress in the same color, and the top of the dress started at the top of the breast cups and wrapped around her shoulders and around the back of her neck, almost like a shawl. She wore sparkly green heels that looked to Aiden like they had been dipped in emeralds. Her nails were a metallic gold. There was a beautiful diamond pendant necklace around her neck in the shape of the Celtic knot even though Aiden was 99% sure she wasn't Irish.

Earlier, Amy had called Aiden and told her the color of her dress so that he could coordinate. He wore a white suit, emerald green shirt, white silk tie, emerald green socks, and white dress shoes.

"And just as I said when you picked me up, you look so handsome! I'm loving the cufflinks by the way." She smiled and winked at him. They were solver cufflinks with little holly berries engraved on them. They had been a gift from Chase a few Christmases ago.

"Thanks! Chase gave them to me a few Christmases ago," Aiden said.

Amy smiled, but it didn't look sincere. "Sweet." She didn't sound sincere either.

Aiden sighed. As mad as he was with Hope, at least she never acted like his son's death meant nothing, and was no big deal.

"There's Hope. She looks beautiful." Amy pointed over to the gates of the square.

Aiden looked over toward where Amy was pointing, and his breath was taken away at Hope's beauty. She really was the most beautiful woman in the world. As angry as he was with her, he couldn't deny that!

Their eyes met, and before Aiden could shoot her a nasty look, he felt his face being moved toward his left. Then, Amy's lips were pressed firmly against his in a passionate kiss.

He kissed her back only because he didn't want to be rude.

Amy broke the kiss, and grinned at him. "You're welcome!" she said quietly.

Aiden raised an eyebrow. "Welcome for what?"

"For making Hope jealous." Amy nodded toward Hope. "Look at her."

Aiden slowly turned his head and looked at Hope, who was now mentally shooting daggers at Amy with her eyes.

Aiden turned back to Amy with a grin. "Do you mind?" he asked her.

Amy smirked. "Not at all, big boy!"

They then kissed passionately.

 _Let her feel what I feel for a change!_ Aiden thought in reference to Hope. She confused him. She said she hated him one moment, and then the next she looked as jealous as ever when another woman showed him some attention. And Hope had said he didn't want her to be happy with anyone but him! It looked like the roles were reversed now. Well, two could play at that game, and he would happily play the game!

He broke the kiss and grinned. "Who knew making someone jealous could be such fun?" he asked.

Amy nodded. "I know, right?" She then turned serious. "Just remember—this is just to make her jealous. I certainly don't want you back. No offense."

"None taken and back at ya!" Aiden said.

Amy grinned. "Now that we have that little understanding out of the way, let's go do some dancin'!" She then dragged him out onto the dancefloor without waiting for a response.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

"Why is he even back with her? My gosh, that girl is such a loser, I can't stand her! I mean, seriously, that woman has no censor. She makes jokes out of death, for goodness sake! And she's so weird! I mean, she doesn't like chocolate. Who doesn't like chocolate?" Hope asked as she watched Aiden dancing with Amy. Her blood boiled as he saw them with their foreheads rested against each other's and smiles on their faces.

"So? Who cares if he wants to go back to that loser? What does it matter to you?" Rafe asked her, sounding annoyed. They were eating hot dogs and watching the dancers. Though, Hope seemed to only have her eyes on one pair of dancers.

Hope looked at him. "I don't care. I just think Amy is annoying. If Aiden is stupid enough to take her back, then whatever. That's his problem; not mine."

"Exactly! So stop staring at them and let's concentrate on us, all right?" Rafe asked.

Hope nodded. She then weakly smiled at Rafe. "I'm really glad the square has that dome over it so that we're not freezing out butts off while we eat."

Rafe nodded. "But at least I'd be warmer with the new fleece shirts you got me." He playfully leaned over and bumped arms with Hope.

Hope grinned. "So true!" Her eyes then wandered back to Aiden and Amy. He was twirling her around, and it was making her blood boil again. She remembered back to when he had twirled her like that at the gala they had first fallen in love at. How dare he do that with Amy too?

"Hope, do you not want to be here with me?" Rafe asked.

Hope looked at him, and pushed some hair behind her ear. "What? Of course I do! Why wouldn't I?"

"Because you keep staring at Aiden even after you promised me he was out of your life for good!" Rafe was starting to feel angry himself now.

Hope sighed, suddenly feeling bad. "You know what? You're right. Forget Aiden!" She finished her hot dog and washed it down with some soda. She then extended her hand to Rafe, who had also finished his dinner. "Let's go dance! Remember? Just like we used to do on your terrace when you used to live at your old place?" She grinned.

Rafe grinned too. "How could I forget?" He took her hand and let her lead him out onto the dancefloor.

Together they then danced to "All Be Home for Christmas." It was the Michael Bublé version.

As she danced with Rafe, Hope couldn't help herself from looking at Aiden dancing with Amy. Aiden was holding Amy close, looking at her with love in his eyes as they slowly swayed from side to side. All through the dance they whispered things to each other and smiled at the other. Hope saw Aiden looking at Amy in the way he used to look at her, and it made her feel sick. She literally felt nauseous.

When the song ended, Aiden and Amy kissed.

Hope then ran off, much to Rafe's surprise.

"Hope!" he called out. "Where are you going?" He ran after her.

"I'm sorry!" Hope said. "I just need some air. In fact, I really need to just get out of here. Can we please go home? I'm sorry. I know we just got here, but I'm not enjoying it anymore."

Rafe caught up to her, and gently placed his hand over her back. "Of course!" he said gently. "Let's go. I have a surprise for you back home anyway." He smiled at her.

Hope smiled back weakly. She wasn't really up for a surprise, but she'd take anything right now to get her mind off of Aiden and Amy!

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

Aiden felt bad when he saw Hope run off.

Amy, however, just smirked. "Looks like it's mission accomplished!"

"I feel bad for making her run off like that," Aiden stated.

"You never did tell me what went wrong this time," Amy replied. "Tell me."

Aiden looked at her and sighed. He then explained how Hope had slept with him, but then did a total 180 and told him off.

"I wonder if Rafe knows she slept with you?" Amy asked.

"Probably. She and Rafe don't lie to each other," Aiden said bitterly.

"Well, if I were you, I wouldn't feel bad you made her run off tonight. She could have had you, but no. She had to act like a bitch by sleeping with you and then blaming you for it! It wasn't like you raped her. She was the one who initiated it!" Amy said.

Aiden nodded. "I know," he said quietly.

"Well, I still think you can do much better than her. You know, there's this pretty recently widowed lady who comes to the café for lunch every day. She's a good ten years older than you, but she looks young for her age. I got to know her from her coming to the café so often. She's really nice. I can introduce you to her if you'd like."

Aiden shook his head. "That's all right. Thanks for the offer, but 'm not looking to date at this time."

"Still hung up on Hope, huh?" Amy asked.

Aiden looked away. "Hope and I are over."

"Uh huh." Amy didn't sound like she believed him. "Well, whatever. You know, as much as I enjoy a good party, I also like to enjoy it in small quantities."

Aiden smiled weakly at her. "Me too."

"What do you say we get some dinner by the bonfire, maybe enter a few raffles, and then get the hell out of here? You can drop me off, and I can take a nice relaxing warm bath before bed. You can go visit your son, or whatever it is you do on Christmas." Amy suggested.

Aiden grinned. "Sounds good to me!"

They took hands then headed off to do just that.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

"Rafe, can I open my eyes now? I really just want to get ready for bed early," Hope said.

"Just a minute!" Rafe called down the stairs. He as setting up the finishing touches.

He then came down the stairs, and walked over to her. "You can open your eyes now."

Hope opened her eyes, and gasped when she saw red rose petals leading up the stairs.

"Follow the trail of rose petals," he said to her.

Hope smiled at him, and raised an eyebrow. "What is this?"

"You'll see," Rafe said, smiling back.

Hope then followed the trail of rose petals to the bedroom with Rafe right behind her.

She covered her mouth when thaw the bedroom was completely lit with candles, and the bed was completely covered in rose petals.

"Oh, Rafe, it's so beautiful!" she breathed.

"I figured that, it's been so long since we've made love. What better night to make love again than on Christmas, right?" Rafe asked with a smile.

Hope smiled weakly. She really wasn't in the mood to make love, but she didn't want to hurt Rafe's feelings after he had gone to all this trouble.

"Thank you so much! I love it," she murmured, pulling him in for a passionate kiss.

"Anything for you, Hope!" he said.

He then picked her up and carried her to the bed.

They kissed with him on top of her.

Hope hungrily kissed him back, but she was thinking of Aiden the whole time. "You're mine…" she murmured.

"All yours," Rafe murmured, starting to unbutton her blouse.

"Not Amy's," Hope murmured.

Rafe immediately ceased his kisses and blouse undoing. "Excuse me?"

Hope shook from her daydream. "Rafe! I, uh…"

Rafe shook his head. "You know what? Just forget it! I can't do this anymore." He went over to the light switch and flicked it on. He then blew out the candles.

Hope knew she would apologize more, and beg for his forgiveness. However, she kept silent, for she knew deep down, before they even had the conversation they were surely bound to have, that their marriage as she knew it was over. And it was all because of Aiden Jennings and the love for him she had that she just couldn't seem to kill no matter how hard she tried to.


	24. S1E24

_**This Love…**_

 _ **Season 1 Episode 24: I Don't Wanna Spend One More Christmas Without You**_

Hope felt both embarrassed and ashamed as Rafe sat down next to her on the bed.

"As much as I love you, Hope, I can't do this again. I went through it with Sami always going back to EJ. I can't do it with you too. I deserve better than that!" Rafe said to her. He didn't sound angry; just sad. "I keep thinking that maybe you'll eventually get over Aiden, but you just don't. Every time you promise to stay away from him, you always find yourself going back to him in some way or another. You know, I didn't want to admit it, but your sleeping with Aiden says a lot about how you feel about him. You're not a cheater. You never have been. Well, you slept with me when you were still married to Aiden, but that was under different circumstances. It was over between the two of you at that point. For the time being anyway…"

Hope pushed some hair behind her ear, and looked at him with tear-filled eyes. "I never should have cheated on you! I should have talked to you first about my feelings for Aiden before acting on them."

"So, why are you with me now when you clearly love Aiden more?" Rafe asked.

Hope shrugged. "I do love you too. Just not as much as I love…" She sighed; not wanting to make this harder on Rafe. "It's just that… Bo picked you out for me. He wanted me to be with you. Also, you've done so much for me. I felt that if I were to leave you for Aiden, it would be a slap in the face to you after all you've done for me. Not to mention to Bo, for rejecting his choice for me."

Rafe shook his head. "Hope, being with me just because of the things I did for you and do for you isn't a reason to be with me. As much as I love you and want more than anything to spend the rest of my life with you, you feeling obligated to be with me isn't the reason I want you to be with me. I want you to be with me because you love me more than any other man on this planet. I'm sorry, but as much as I love you—and believe me, I never knew my heart could hold this much love in my heart for a woman—I can't live in a marriage that exists mainly out of guilt and obligation."

Hope nodded. "I know," she whispered. "It's kind of like staying in a marriage solely for the kids' sake. It's not fair to the kids, or yourselves."

Rafe nodded. "And you being with me out of guilt and obligation isn't fair to either of us, no matter how much it hurts me," he said gently, tears in his eyes.

Hope looked at him. "I do love you," she reminded him.

"Just not as much as you love Aiden," Rafe said simply.

Hope looked away. "No, I guess not," she finally admitted to both herself and Rafe. She looked at him again. "I think my love for you is different than it is for Aiden. It's a deep love, but it's more based on friendship. I mean, friendship is a fantastic basis for a relationship, but sometimes it can cloud a person's judgment. Loving someone very deeply on a friendship level doesn't necessarily transfer to a romantic level. That being said, I do love you in a romantic level too. I mean, I married you and had two children with you for goodness sake! But it's just not at the capacity a husband and wife should be at. The friendship level is even beyond a normal friendship. But the romantic aspect isn't quite as strong. When I'm with Aiden, on the other hand, the romantic aspect is just so incredibly deep and strong, and…" She trailed off, then looked down at her lap. "I'm sorry. I know I must not be making you feel any better." She looked up at him. "I just feel it's high time I start being truly honest with you."

Rafe nodded. "And I appreciate that. After all, that is what our relationship prided itself on—honesty."

"So, where do we go from here?" Hope asked quietly.

"Well, we can start by me moving back into my old place with my father. I'm sure he won't mind. We can start the divorce proceedings right away. No use in prolonging it, right?"

Hope slowly shook her head. "Right," she said in practically a whisper. She felt so guilty for doing this to Rafe, but at the same time, she also felt a little relieved. Finally, she could be with Aiden. That is, once she made sure to tell Amy where to go!

"I do want to thank you for the two happiest years of my life. I don't know if I'll ever love another woman as much as I love you," Rafe said to her.

Hope smiled weakly. "I'm sure you will. You'll find a woman who will love you and only you, and she will be one of the luckiest girls on earth! Anyway, you've just forgotten how much you've loved Sami, and Carrie, and Jordan. Each time you fall in love, you feel like that woman is the one, and that you love her more than the last and will never love another woman. But then your heart mends and you end up falling even harder for the next woman even though you never thought you would. Trust me, one day you _will_ find someone you love even more than you love me—even though it may not feel like that right now."

Rafe nodded. "I hope so," he said quietly, his eyes filled with tears.

Hope had tears in her eyes again too. She gently stroked his cheek. "I'm so sorry, Rafe. After all you've done for me… I feel so guilty! But believe me, I will never forget anything you've done for me! Just because I don't want to be married to you anymore, it doesn't mean I won't always love and care about you as a person, and a friend. That is if you still want to be friends."

Rafe smiled at her through the tears. "Always!" he said.

Hope hugged him tightly.

"Would it be too much to ask for one last kiss?" Rafe asked gently.

Hope smiled, and shook her head. "Not at all." She smiled, then pulled him in for a tender and loving kiss on the lips.

After a short moment, they broke the kiss.

"Goodbye, Hope," Rafe said softly.

Again, Hope gently stroked his cheek. "Goodbye, Rafe," she said just as softly.

Rafe then stood up, and began to pack an overnight bag. "I'm just going to pack a few things. I'll be back sometime within the week to gather the rest of my things."

Hope nodded. "Whenever you get to them. No rush."

After Rafe had left, Hope sighed, and lay down on her bed. A part of her was mourning over the loss of Rafe, but an even bigger part of her was in dire need of making sure she got Aiden to herself before Amy sank her claws even deeper into him.

She got up off the bed and headed downstairs. If she left now, she figured maybe she could still catch him at the ball. After all, she couldn't let him go home with Amy or vice-versa. No way in hell!

 _ **~*came back to me*~**_

Aiden and Amy had had a couple of hot dogs and sodas by the bonfire. They had even split an order of cheese fries. They had entered a couple of raffles after that, and then he took her home.

Now, they were standing outside her door.

"Thank you for the wonderful time tonight. I'm going to show Tony all those selfies we took and make him so jealous, he'll regret ever going to that funeral instead of taking me to the ball," Amy said.

Aiden smirked. "I'm sure he will." He kissed her cheek. "I want to thank you for tonight as well. I had more fun than I thought I would, and I got to say, I got a kick out of seeing the jealous look on Hope's face when you and I kissed and danced."

"I think I better watch my back now! She was looking at me as if she were trying to blow me up with her eyes!" Amy said. She smirked, and playfully and gently punched Aiden's arm. "She's got it so bad for you! She's totally in denial if she says otherwise."

Aiden nodded. "After tonight, I think so too. But, there's nothing I can do about it. She's the one who is choosing to deny her feelings, so it's on her. If she wants to live the rest of her life with a dingbat like Rafe, then it's her own fault! I actually feel kind of sorry for her."

Amy nodded. "Now you're talking! It's about time you grew some guts! Hey, do you want to come in for a drink? I have hot chocolate, cider, and egg nog if you don't prefer to drink. I add the alcohol separately to the egg nog. I buy the non-alcoholic so that I still have some to offer to my non-drinking friends. Trust me, you wouldn't think so, but there are a lot more non-drinkers out there than you know! I have like five other friends besides you who don't like to drink."

Aiden hesitated for a moment. He was eager to visit Chase's grave then get home and exchange the uncomfortable suit for his comfortable and warm pajamas. He also wanted to watch a Christmas movie in bed. But, winter did always make him a little dry-mouthed, and it was still early. "Sure. I guess a quick drink won't hurt!" he said.

Amy grinned. "Excellent! Come on in."

He did as told. It was not like he had to rush back home for anybody anyway he figured.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

Hope arrived at the square while the party was still going on. It had significantly less people now, but there were still some stragglers left.

She looked all around for Aiden and Amy, but unfortunately, they were nowhere to be found.

 _What if they are back at her place sleeping together?_ She thought in panic. She had no idea where Amy lived, but she could go to his place, she figured. She didn't care if she interrupted them. She had to tell Aiden how she felt before it was too late and she had lost him for good.

She started to rush out of the square to get to his condo, but before she even got to the gate, she suddenly felt incredibly woozy. She sank to the floor, and placed a hand over her head.

"Hope, are you all right?"

Hope looked up at the sound of Kayla's voice. Kayla was standing there with Steve. Both looked incredibly worried.

"I'm fine. I've just been going through a lot of stress lately. I also didn't have anything other than a hot dog to eat tonight." Hope slowly stood up with Steve's help.

"Well, then you need to eat something! I'll go get you an order of cheese fries. Trust me, they are to die for!" Steve said. He then ran off to get the fries before Hope could protest.

"Where's Rafe?" Kayla asked as she slowly led Hope over to a table to sit down.

Hope didn't like lying to her best friend, but she also didn't feel like getting into all the questions Kayla was sure to ask if she were to tell her the truth. "H was feeling a little worn out and went to bed early. I couldn't sleep, so I decided to come back here and enter a few raffles I forgot to enter. I was also starving!" She grinned.

Kayla didn't look like she quite believed her, but she let it go. "All right. Let's get those cheese fries in you then!"

Steve came back with the fries and a can of Coke then. "Here you go. You need to take better care of yourself, you know."

"Thank you. I will. I'm sorry. The holidays are always just so busy and stressful. Now that they are over, I can relax more," Hope said before starting to eat the fries. Though she really was hungry, she didn't feel like taking the time to eat. However, with Steve and Kayla now eyeing her like a hawk, she had no choice but to take a break and eat. It was either that, or tell them the truth, and right now, the truth was not an option.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

After eating all of her cheese fries and drinking all of her Coke—Steve and Kayla's orders—Hope signed up for a couple of raffles (to make her lie to Kayla look like the truth), and then bid her friends ado before heading to Aiden's.

However, when she got to Aiden's, he wasn't there.

She sighed, and headed back to the cemetery. She didn't want to go home just yet. She was too upset over both having hurt Rafe, and Aiden being with Amy.

She went to the twins' grave and talked to them for a bit.

"Your daddy and I split up tonight, but I want you to know, it had nothing to do with you guys or your deaths. My heart belongs to the man I was with before your father. But, believe me, it doesn't lesson your father's or my love for you two." She kissed her hand twice and placed it on top of their stone. "A kiss for both of you." She smiled. "Our love for you will only grow; not lessen. Merry Christmas, my Loves."

She then turned to leave, but was stunned to see Aiden at Chase's grave, talking to him. Amy was nowhere to be seen, much to her delight. She didn't know how she had missed him coming in. She guessed she had been too distraught to notice.

Aiden, as if sensing her watching him, looked up, and their eyes met.

Her heart sank as he gave her a dirty look and went back to talking to Chase. He had been looking at her with contempt ever since she had given him the kiss off. She didn't blame him. After all, she had slept with him and told him she loved him, only to recant and tell him to move out of Salem.

Aiden finished talking to Chase, then headed out of the cemetery and through the park.

Hope quickly chased after him. Her feet and dress were getting cold and soaked in the snow, but she didn't care. All that mattered to her at that moment was getting Aiden back.

"Aiden, wait up! Please!" she called as she chased him through the park. "I have to tell you something important!"

"We have nothing to say to each other!" Aiden called out as he continued to walk without looking back.

"I left Rafe for you!" she called out after him.

Aiden stopped, but still didn't look back.

"After seeing you with Amy, I realized how much I love you. Try as I might to deny it, I love you _so_ much—more than Rafe even. Even after all the lies you told me, and all the ways you hurt me… Damn it, Aiden I'm still in love with you and, if I'm being honest with myself, I never really stopped!"

Aiden turned to look at her. "But for how long? Amy and I were never a thing again. We were just trying to make you jealous. She has a boyfriend, and I'm still only in love with you. I shouldn't be after the way you treated me after we slept together, but so help me, I am. But Hope, I'm not just going to be your rebound guy every time you have an argument with Rafe. I won't be with you just until you decide you want Rafe back again. And I don't want you with me just so someone else doesn't have me. You claim I was doing that with you, but really, you're doing that with me now."

Hope walked over to him and shook her head. "No. The Amy thing only gave me the final push to be with you. I knew long before then that you were the one I wanted to be with. And as far as the rebound thing goes, I was with you before I was ever with Rafe. So, technically, _Rafe's_ the rebound guy; not you, right?" She smiled, hoping her lightheartedness would break the ice even if just slightly.

Aiden smiled weakly. "True." He then turned serious. "But, Hope, if we're going to be together, you need to want to be with me and only me. My heart can't take getting you back only to lose you _again_. As much as I will _always_ love you more than anyone on the planet, and more than anyone else on the planet could ever dream of loving you—Rafe included—I just can't put myself through that again. I don't want to make love to you again only for you to change your mind about leaving Rafe and go running back to him. Also, the hurtful things you said to me after we made love… I don't know, Hope. I just need some time to think about all of this."

Hope nodded. "I understand." The park was close enough to the square that the Christmas music from the ball could still be heard in the park. "Christmas Canon" by the Trans-Siberian Orchestra was now playing. The slow melody made Hope feel even worse. She felt lonely, depressed, and desperate to get Aiden back.

Aiden started to walk off, but Hope ran to him and grabbed him from behind. She then forcefully turned him around and gave him a kiss so passionate, it melted his heart quicker than the sun melted the snow.

When she pulled away, he was panting for air.

She smirked. "Do you still need more time?"

He shook his head, his eyes filled with desire for her. "None!" he confirmed.

They grinned at each other, then kissed some more.

She then playfully swatted him. "And you trying to make me jealous! You're such a jerk!"

Aiden grinned. "It worked didn't it?"

Hope bit her bottom lip and nodded. "It did," she said quietly. "I hated seeing you dance with her when it should have been me…just like at the gala when we first fell in love."

Aiden pointed upward. "We still have music. It's not too late." He then held out his hand to her. "Shall we dance, my Baby?"

Hope's heart swelled with love for him. "Yes, we shall, my Darling."

They grinned at each other, then held each other in Waltz form as they waltzed around the snowy park to the music.

They kissed at the heart of the song, no longer in the Waltz position, for their arms were wrapped around each other. Still, as if still dancing, they spun around together with neither one of them willing to stop kissing as the music continued to play. It even started to snow.

" _On this night, on this night, on this very Christmas night! On this night, on this night, on this very Christmas night!"_

They didn't stop kissing until the song started to end.

"I want to take you home now and make love to you," Aiden murmured, his eyes locked with hers, and her hands in his own.

She kissed up the side of his neck, and moved her fingers to gently tangle them in his hair. "Then take me home and make love to me," she murmured in his ear. "What are you waiting for?"

They grinned at each other, their foreheads resting against the other's.

"Nothing at all!" Aiden said, picking her up.

Hope laughed. "Aiden! What are you going to do? Carry me home? I still have my car here!"

"Just to the parking lot then," he said. "And when we get home, to the bed."

Their eyes lowered with love for each other and then they kissed again, Hope still in his arms.

Aiden did just as he said he was going to do then—carried her to the car just as the ending notes of "Christmas Canon" began to play, the snow still falling down on them.

He was so beyond happy knowing that this time, after he made love to her, she wouldn't be leaving.


	25. S1E25

_**This Love…**_

 _ **Season 1 Episode 25: Kiss Me at Midnight**_

Hope lay in Aiden's bed dreaming after their lovemaking.

 _"Fancy face…"_

 _Hope slowly opened her eyes. She saw Bo standing in front of her. She quickly sat up and looked around. Aiden was gone. There was nothing even around her except white. White was everywhere. She was on a white bed in a white room with no other furniture. Heck, she couldn't even see a door. There was just Bo standing in front of her._

 _"Bo! You came back!" Hope said. Her heart sank a little. "Are you here to scold me again about choosing Aiden? I'm sorry! I know you wanted Rafe for me, but my heart wants Aiden. I love him, Bo! He really has changed. He was the first man I ever fell in love with after you. I didn't think I'd ever be able to fall in love again, and then Aiden came along and…I fell so hard for him, Bo! I can't just get rid of those feelings I have for him."_

 _Bo shrugged. "The heart wants what it wants!" He grinned._

 _Hope raised an eyebrow. "Why the sudden change of heart?"_

 _"That wasn't me you saw before in your dream, Hope. It was just your guilty conscious projecting a vision of me into your dreams. You felt guilty for cheating on Rafe—especially after all he did for you—so you envisioned me in your dream, telling you off for it," Bo explained._

 _"So, is it really you now?" Hope asked._

 _Bo smirked. "Dreams are one way the dead can communicate with the ones they love. In a dream, it doesn't freak the living out as much." He winked at her and grinned._

 _Hope grinned back. "You did pick a good man for me, but Bo…"_

 _"Your heart wants someone else," Bo finished for her. "It's okay. After all, Rafe was just a suggestion. Technically, I never told him to marry you. I just wanted him to look out for you. He took it the way he wanted to take it. I mean, yes, I had a feeling he would be your next husband, but I really just wanted to make sure you were safe, and well-taken care of. I know you're perfectly capable of picking out your own man. If it's Aiden, then so be it."_

 _"So, you're not mad?" Hope asked quietly._

 _Bo waked closer to her. He gently stroked her cheek even though she couldn't feel it. "Fancy Face, if being with Aiden makes you happy, then it makes_ me _happy. All I ever wanted was for you to be happy. If Aiden makes you happy, then you have my blessing. Not that you ever needed it. Like I said, you are perfectly capable of picking your own man out. It's your life; not mine or anyone else's for that matter."_

 _"Aiden does make me very happy," Hope whispered. "And I know it's my choice, but your opinion still means a lot to me, as does your acceptance."_

 _"Think if it this way. When I asked Rafe to look out for you, I thought Aiden had tried to kill you and was now dead. I had never even met Aiden or known anything about your relationship with him. Had I known more, it could have just as easily been Aiden I asked to look out for you instead of Rafe. Heck, Aiden being the first man you fell in love with since me says something. Also, you loved him enough to marry him. He obviously made you very happy at one point. And, seeing as your heart keeps leading you back to Aiden, it has to mean he still makes you happy." Bo smiled at her. "Right?" he asked, once again stroking her cheek._

 _Hope nodded. "Right! He makes me_ so _happy, Bo! Whenever I'm with him I can sense his love for me. It's so strong! And even though I was with Rafe, he never gave up on me even when Rafe and I married and had twins."_

 _"Well, like I said, you have my blessing. I'm not thrilled that Aiden had planned to kill you at one point, but, since his son's life was in danger, and since he ended up still not being able to go through with it, I can forgive him. After all, that's kind of what we're all about up here in Heaven—forgiveness. As long as you're happy, that's all I really care about. Unfortunately, I do have to go now. I love you, Fancy Face. Never forget that," Bo said._

" _And I love you, Brady. Always," Hope said, tears in her eyes. "I wish you didn't have to go."_

 _Bo smiled. "We always have your dreams…" He then disappeared in a flash of yellow light._

 _Hope sighed. She then lay back down in the bed with a smile of contentment._

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

Aiden watched as Hope smiled in her sleep. She looked so peaceful and content.

Suddenly, her eyes fluttered open. She then sat up in bed and looked around as if she was unsure of where she was.

In an instant, Aiden worried that she was going to realize what she'd done, change her mind again, and leave him again. However, his worries were soon put to rest as their eyes met and she smiled.

"Good morning, my Love." She moaned, then pulled him in for a tender kiss.

He moaned as well, and hungrily kissed her back. "For a moment there, I was afraid you were going to change your mind," he said to her.

Hope shook her head. "Not this time." She kissed him again, and he hungrily returned her kisses.

When they broke the kiss, he gently stroked her hair. "What made you change your mind the first time, if you don't mind me asking?"

Hope blushed. "It seems silly to me now, but I felt so nervous that I had a dream about Bo. He was scolding me for cheating on Rafe and being with you. He said I couldn't trust you, and that I should be with Rafe after all he's done for me. I know now it was just my guilty conscious playing a trick on me but still… It had really shaken me up. I was only rude to you because I knew it was the only way you'd let me go."

"Oh. I thought you really hated me," Aiden said, looking down at the bed sheets.

Hope shook her head, and gently stroked his cheek, causing him to look at her again. "I could never hate you, Aiden. I love you. Even when I didn't want to admit to it, I loved you. I meant what I said to you before my dream."

Aiden smiled. "Good to know. "I love you too. So much, Hope! I'm sorry for all those nasty looks I gave you and all the nasty things I said to you. I say I'm not going to hurt you, but then I still go on hurting you."

"Well, after the way I had treated you, that was normal. If you forgive me, I'll forgive you," she grinned at him, and wriggled her eyebrows up and down playfully.

He grinned too. "Deal!"

"Good!" Hope said, before pulling him in for even more kissing yet.

"And you know what?" she then added.

"Hm?" Aiden asked, kissing down the side of her neck now. All the kissing had made him hungry for her.

Hope closed her eyes in pleasure. "I just had another dream. This time I really think it was Bo. He said it was."

"And what did he say… Hm?" Aiden asked, trailing his kisses down to her collarbone.

Hope's breathing started to become heavier. Her eyes were still closed. "He said he approves of you, and that I don't need his permission or anyone else's to be with whomever it is I want to be with."

"He's a wise man!" Aiden said.

Hope smiled. "He said that, as long as I'm happy, then so is he."

Aiden ceased his kissing, and looked at her, an eyebrow raised. "And are you happy with me?" he asked.

She gently took his face between her hands. "More than I ever thought possible," she replied.

Aiden's eyes lowered with love for her. He stroked her hair. "Just as I am with you, Baby. You're my dream come true."

"Oh, Aiden," Hope whispered.

They began kissing some more, and soon they were making love again, both so happy to finally be with their true love and soul mate.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

After they had made love, Hope wanted to take a shower, but she realized she hadn't brought anything with her to Aiden's.

"You don't live far from here. How about I go pick you out an outfit from your home and bring it back? I can even stop by the café and get us some chocolate croissants and bacon on the way home," Aiden suggested.

"And some coffee?" Hope asked with a hopeful grin.

"Of course!" Aiden said, grinning back at her.

"Wait until after the shower." Hope pulled him so close, they were body to body. "I want you in there with me," she purred in his ear.

Aiden moaned. "Okay…" There was no way he was saying no now!

He followed her in the shower, and she turned on the water as arm as they could stand it.

They then got in, and she immediately began kissing and nipping down the side of his neck.

"You're sure insatiable this morning…" he said to her with closed eyes. He then opened them and grinned. "Not that I'm complaining…"

"I can't help it! I'm just so happy to finally have you back in my life…back in my bed," she purred, her kisses quickly becoming more passionate. "You always make me feel so good," she murmured in his ear gently licking up it as she did so.

Aiden moaned, and gently pressed her back against the shower wall. "Do you want me to make you feel good again?" he asked, his voice taking on a seductive tone.

Hope took his face between her hands and stared him deep in the eyes. "Do it!"

He moaned, then did just as she asked him too.

Their lovemaking was more forceful and desire-filled this time, but it was exactly what they both needed. Their desire for each other was overpowering.

They lazily kissed afterwards, and then Aiden helped her wash her back and she helped him wash his.

After their shower, Hope turned the water off, and was about to get out, when she had a dizzy spell again.

"Woah! Baby, are you all right?" Aiden asked, catching her before she fell.

Hope put a hand to her forehead. "I'm fine. Sorry. I think it's just a combination of not having eaten, the warm water, and the over exhortation." She turned to Aiden and grinned as she draped her arms over his shoulders. "You really gave me quite the workout."

He grinned too. "Why don't you go lie down? I'll go get your clothes and food," he said.

Hope nodded. "All right. Maybe I better."

Aiden helped her to the bed, then brought her her purse so that she could take out her house keys and hand them to him.

"I won't be long," he said, kissing her cheek before leaving.

"Take your time," Hope replied, laying down with a smile and closing her eyes. Between the warm water and their lovemaking, she was tired again…

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

It was now New Years' Eve. There was a party at The Square that night. The town had all pitched in their money and or time to decorate it to resemble Time's Square. There was going to be a ball drop and everything. Of course, the ball drop wasn't going to be as elaborate as the one in Time Square, and there were no musical guests—at least not of the celebrity kind—but it was still due to be a good time.

Hope and Aiden were at the square, helping other Salemites set up for the big night.

Word had now gotten out about Hope having left Rafe for Aiden, and the town was a buzz. Aiden hadn't had any one come up to him to confront him about it, but he knew that was more than likely for Hope's sake. Even so, he'd still get the evil eye from the people closet to Hope whenever he'd see them around. For instance, Steve, who was there with Kayla as they also helped set up, kept giving him the evil eye.

"I think everybody hates me even more than they already did," Aiden said to Hope as they hung some garland over the gates.

Hope looked to where Aiden was looking, and saw the look Steve was giving Aiden. "Don't worry about it. Steve and Kayla are just very protective of me. They also loved Rafe. It's just going to take some getting used to for them."

"I just hope they don't try to turn you against me," Aiden said, thinking about how Meredith's friend Bree kept trying to turn Hope against him when he had first started dating Hope.

"They can try all they want, but it's not going to change my mind about you. Remember what I told you when we first started dating and you were angry because Bree kept trying to get me to break up with you?" Hope asked.

"You said you make up your own mind about people," Aiden answered; remembering it clearly.

Hope nodded. "That's right!" She smiled warmly and took his hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. "I haven't changed my mind about that."

"Ciara and Shawn probably aren't going to be that happy, and I know you care about _their_ opinions," Aiden said, still worried.

"They both just want me to be happy, and I know that once they see how happy you make me, they will forgive you," Hope said, sounding sure of herself.

"And if they don't?" Aiden asked.

Hope shrugged. "They'll have to get over it! You're not of any danger to them, so it doesn't concern me. Besides, I know they will both come around in time."

"But what if they refuse to talk to you as long as you're still with me? I could never do that to you. If they want me to be gone from you're life, I'm gonna have to be—"

Hope cut him off with a finger to his lips. "No more talk about being gone from my life. You're worrying way too much over something that isn't even going to happen. So just relax, all right? Let's just enjoy the fact that we're going into the New Year together."

Aiden nodded. "All right." He squeezed her hand and they kissed.

"Well, I think we're done here." Hope said, hanging the last of the holly berry-covered garland. Let's go see if Steve and Kayla need help hoisting the mirror ball up on the pole."

"All right," Aiden agreed, though going over to see Steve and Kayla didn't seem like a good idea to him. He could already feel their icy stares.

As they neared, Hope smiled at Kayla. "Hey! Do you guys need any help with that?" Suddenly, she stopped, and reached for Aiden's shoulder to steady herself. She then put a hand to her forehead, looking pale.

Aiden quickly wrapped his arms around her. "Baby? What's wrong?"

Kayla and Steve both rushed over to her. "Did you just have another fainting spell?" Kayla asked her with concern. She put the back of her head to Hope's forehead. "You feel warm."

"How did you know about her other fainting spell?" Aiden asked.

Kayla looked at him funny. "She was with Steve and me at the ball when she nearly passed out from hunger."

He looked at Hope. "Why didn't you tell me you had almost fainted earlier too?"

"Did she have another fainting spell besides the ball and now?" Kayla asked Aiden.

Aiden nodded. "The morning after Christmas—right after we…" He blushed, and trailed off.

Kayla nodded. "I get the picture."

"That's not good. You should have her checked out," Steve said to Kayla.

Hope blushed. "Can you all please stop acting like I'm not right here?"

"Sorry, Baby. We're just worried about you," Aiden said, gently rubbing her back.

Kayla nodded. "I'm going to go take you over to the hospital right now and get you tested."

"Kay, no. I'm fine! We still have a lot of decorating to do to get ready for tonight," Hope protested.

Kayla shook her head. "It won't take long. We have to rule out pneumonia or the flu. There is a lot of illnesses going around this time of year. It's best to catch anything early."

"Kayla, this is really not necessary. I'm fine!" Hope continued to protest.

"Then prove it to me by coming to the hospital with me," Kayla ordered.

Aiden took Hope's hand and kissed it. "Please, Baby, listen to her. I want to make sure you're healthy. I don't know what I'd do if anything ever happened to you."

Hope sighed. "Fine. But you stay here and help Steve. I have some errands to run after anyway. I'll just meet you at the party tonight."

"Are you sure you don't want me to come with you?" Aiden asked her.

Hope nodded. "I'm positive! Stay and help Steve." She turned to Steve. "And Steve? Don't be an ass to him."

Steve held his hands up in defense. "I didn't say nothing."

Hope nodded. "You keep it that way."

Aiden gave Hope a quick kiss, then she left with Kayla.

Aiden looked at Steve. "So, how can I help you?"

"By staying out of my way," Steve grumbled as he took off to work on the ball and poll again.

Aiden sighed. "All right. Hanging the lights on the gate with the garland it is!" He then grabbed a string of nearby unused lights and headed for the gates in the opposite direction as Steve.

 _ **~*came back to me*~**_

The party was in full swing. Hope arrived in a gold dress, looking stunning as ever.

Aiden, clad in a gold suit he felt ridiculous in but bought because Hope got a kick out of it, took her hand and kissed it. "So, it's definitely not pneumonia or the flu?" he asked with concern.

Hope shook her head. "Nope! It's like I told you earlier on the phone, it's just a stomach bug."

"Are you on any medication?" Aiden asked her.

Hope smiled at him and straightened his black tie. "Nothing major." She kissed him softly on the lips, then pat his chest. "Trust me, I'm fine. Let's just get some food, then dance!"

Aiden nodded. He smiled, revealing the dimples he knew Hope loved.

They took hands, and headed to get some food.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

Throughout the evening, Hope and Aiden enjoyed good food and dancing as they celebrated entering the New Year together.

Hope softly scolded Steve for not playing nice with Aiden. Of course, she did it when Aiden was in the bathroom so as not to make Aiden feel uncomfortable.

"I'm sorry, Hope, but I'll never get what you see in that guy. Rafe is a standup guy and even Bo saw it. This isn't right," Steve said.

"Yeah, well I know for a fact that Bo just wants me to be happy. I am incredibly happy with Aiden, and I don't need anyone's permission to be with him. It wouldn't be fair for me to stay with Rafe when my heart is with another man," Hope said.

"Fine. I'll accept it, but it doesn't mean I have to like it!" Steve grumbled.

Kayla smiled weakly at Hope. "We'll try to forgive Aiden. For your sake."

"Speak for yourself!" Steve said with a grunt.

Kayla rolled her eyes, and playfully smacked his chest.

Hope smiled. "Thank you, Kay."

"No problem," Kayla said. "Look, there's Joey and Jenna. Let's go say hi," Kayla then said to Steve, pointing them out as they came in.

"New girlfriend?" Hope asked, an eyebrow raised.

Steve nodded. "We've only met her once before, but I can tell already she's a hell 'a better than Jade! Though that's not saying much."

They then took off to say hello.

Hope smirked.

Aiden came back to her then. "Did you miss me?"

"Mm, so much!" Hope said, placing her hands over his chest and kissing him.

"All right, everybody! It's almost time for the ball to drop. Let us all start the countdown!" Sonny, who was hosting the event called out.

As everyone began to count down from fifty-nine.

Hope took a deep breath and slowly let it out. She had something important to tell Aiden. "Aiden… There's something I need to tell you," she began.

"Huh? It's hard to hear you right now, Baby," Aiden said, leaning in closer to her to hear her better.

"I sort of lied about what is wrong with me," Hope admitted.

Aiden looked at her with worry. She had his full attention now. "What is it? What's wrong?"

She smiled. "Nothing's wrong, really. At least, I hope not."

"Hope, you're scaring me." Aiden gently stroked her hair. "What is it? What's wrong?"

"10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5…" the crowd called out.

"Aiden, I'm pregnant." Hope said. "We're going to have a baby."

Aiden's mouth dropped open.

"4 3, 2, 1, Happy New Years!"

"People blew horns in celebration as "Auld Lang Syne" began to play, but Aiden barely noticed. "It's mine?"

Hope nodded. "I'm slightly over a month pregnant, and haven't slept with Rafe since before the twins died in September. It's yours."

Aiden grinned. "I didn't even think that was possible!"

Hope shrugged. "I didn't either! But, I was late to menopause, and started it about six months ago. Kayla said that, though it's rare for a woman my age to have a baby, it's possible—clearly!" Hope placed her hands over her stomach and looked at it before looking back up at Aiden. "I wasn't in menopause for a full year yet, so I was still able to get pregnant. It's what they call a menopause baby."

"So, this is real. It's not a joke. I'm really going to be a daddy again?" Aiden asked, feeling as if he were on cloud nine.

Hope grinned and nodded. "It's not a joke; you're really going to be a daddy again!"

Aiden cried out in joy, and pulled her in for the most passionate kiss yet!

Hope grinned. "I'm so happy to be experiencing this with you! At first I was unsure about having a baby again at this age, but seeing you so happy… Oh, Aiden, there is no one else I'd rather have this baby with than you."

"And there's no one else I'd rather have be the mother to my child than you," he said. "I just can't wait!" He picked her up.

Hope laughed as he lifted her up. "Careful! Baby on board!" she reminded him.

He set her back down. "Sorry. I'm just so excited!"

She grinned as she looked at him with love in her eyes. "Me too! I love you _so_ much, Mr. Jennings."

"And I love you, Baby. Happy New Year, my beautiful Hope," he said to her.

"Happy New Year, My love," she said.

They kissed some more, then headed out hand-in-hand to the dancefloor, both _so_ happy to start and celebrate both the New Year, and this new chapter in their lives.


	26. S2E1

_**This Love…**_

 _ **Season 2 Episode 1: Baby, Baby**_

It was January tenth; Hope's birthday. Hope had wanted to start her birthday off with something special, and so she did.

"Are you excited?" Aiden asked as he gently squeezed Hope's hand in the waiting room of the hospital. They were there for Hope to get a sonogram so that they could see their baby for the first time. Well, not that you could really see it. Aiden personally could never make anything out of those sonograms. When Meredith was pregnant with Chase, she had tried to show him which part was Chase's head and what part was the body, but all Aiden had seen was a blob. Still, he was excited for visual confirmation that he and Hope were going to have a baby. He was nervous, yet so excited for this second chance to be a father!

Hope squeezed Aiden's hand in return and smiled at him. "I never ever thought I'd have another baby after Ciara. Even when I was late to menopause, I never thought it would be possible. It was a miracle having the twins so late in life. After I had the twins, I was told that was more than likely it for me; that I was lucky to even have had the twins. Even so, after they were born, I still took my birth control. A part of me found it silly to still be taking it. However, I took it anyway since deep down I knew that it was still possible, even if unlikely for me to have another baby. I was right in taking it. Here we are; I'm having another baby."

"I guess the birth control didn't work," Aiden said, knowing he was stating the obvious, but not knowing what else to say.

Hope nodded. "Even birth control is never a hundred percent effective."

"Are you upset that you're having another baby so late in life?" Aiden asked quietly. As much as he wanted this baby, he didn't want to have caused her yet another inconvenience to Hope. Not that he liked to consider a baby an inconvenience, but still…

Hope gently stroked some hair out of his eyes, then kissed is cheek. "I'm actually excited! If the twins were still alive, I'd be taking care of them. I'll just be taking care of our child a bit over a year longer than I would have been anyway with the twins." She smiled. "Instead of only having almost seventeen years left to take care of a baby, I'll have eighteen; not counting the time in the womb. Then he or she can go off to college, and I can finally relax with no more children to take care of!"

"You'll have adult children tot take care of instead. They can be just as needy!" Aiden joked.

Hope smirked. "So very true!"

Kayla called them in then, and they went in together.

"Are you excited to be a dad again?" Kayla asked Aiden as she prepped Hope for the sonogram. She still wasn't Aiden's number one fan. She didn't trust him at all, but for Hope's sake, she was giving Aiden a chance.

Aiden smiled big and nodded. "I never thought I would be a dad again, but I'm glad I am! It will help fill the void that Chase left in my heart. It will never replace him, of course, but like I said, it will help fill the void a little."

Kayla's expression softened. "I bet it will!" she said with a sympathetic smile.

Hope winced. "I know the gel is always cold, but it still gets me every time!" she said.

Kayla laughed. "It will soon warm up with the temperature of your body." She then ran the transducer over Hope's stomach.

Kayla was quiet as she looked at the monitor.

"I everything okay?" Aiden asked with concern.

Kayla looked at them with a big smile. "Everything is more than okay!" She pointed to a spot on the screen. "This is your baby."

Hope and Aiden held hands and smiled at the little blip on the screen. It was hardly anything, having only been conceived just over a month and a half before, but they could definitely see something there.

"He or she is so tiny!" Aiden said.

Hope smiled. "He or she will grow fast; trust me."

Kayla had a mischievous look in her eyes when she pointed to another spot on the screen. "And this…is your other baby."

Hope and Aiden looked at Kayla in surprise, then at each other with wide eyes, then back at Kayla.

"Excuse me?" Hope asked.

Kayla grinned. "Surprise! You're having twins again."

Aiden was absolutely ecstatic! He looked at Hope to gauge her reaction, but to his horror, she burst into tears.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

"Baby, what's wrong? You don't want twins?" Aiden asked, gently rubbing Hope's back.

She shook her head. "No. It's not that." She wiped her eyes and sniffled, then smiled at Aiden. "These are happy tears! It's another miracle from God. He took my twins away, but not without giving me some more. Of course, like you said, they will never replace RJ and Faith, but they will definitely help fill a little void."

Aiden smiled too; relieved that she wanted the twins. He rubbed her back again and kissed the top of her head. "They will fill a void for both of us."

"So far everything looks healthy and good, but we both know that at your age—no offense but it's facts—you need to be extra careful with this pregnancy," Kayla warned. "I want frequent checkups. Also, you know that babies can tend to have Down syndrome when conceived later in life. There is a screening I can do in another month or so to test and see if they are likely to have Down syndrome, but the test isn't a hundred percent accurate anyway. Sometimes it shows they could have Down syndrome and they end up being healthy, and sadly sometimes it looks like they won't have it and they do. There's no sure-fire way of telling without doing an Amniocentesis, which is where I would insert a needle through the abdominal wall and the uterus to the amniotic sac to collect some amniotic fluid for testing."

Aiden winced. "I can say even without being a woman that that sounds painful."

Kayla smiled. "Hope would have a local anesthetic so that she wouldn't feel it."

"Isn't there a risk to the babies that way?" Hope asked.

Kayla nodded. "Up to a two percent chance of a miscarriage. It's not a huge risk, and sometimes parents find it worth it just for the peace of mind that their child will be healthy. It's not only for detecting Down syndrome. It can detect other abnormalities too if there are any. But we have to wait until at least the sixteenth week before we do anything like that."

"We'll have to think about it," Aiden said, gently squeezing Hope's hand again.

Hope nodded. "It's a lot to think about. I'd like to know for sure if they are heathy or not, but I'm not sure I want to risk a miscarriage."

"Well, like I said, you have plenty of time to decide. It's just a small chance. Sami had an amnio, and look how well her twins turned out!"

Hope nodded. "True."

"Any other questions?" Kayla asked, turning off the machine.

"If one twin as Down syndrome, does that mean both will?" Aiden asked.

"Great question!" Kayla said. "No. Just because one has it, that doesn't necessarily mean the other one will. I know it's not ideal, but Down syndrome isn't the worst thing in the world for a child to have. Some actually live pretty normal lives. Of course, it does shorten their lifespan, but they can live to be in their late fifties or even older!"

"I'll love my babies whether they have it or not. I just want them to be healthy and happy," Aiden said.

Hope squeezed his hand. "Same here," she said, tears in her eyes.

Hope then got off the table after Kayla had wiped the gel off for her.

"By the way, happy birthday!" Kayla said, hugging her former sister-in-law tightly.

Hope hugged her back. "Thank you."

"So, what do you have planned for the day?" Kayla asked her.

Hope looked at Aiden.

"I actually have an all-day surprise for her," Aiden announced. He looked at his watch. "Which we have to leave right now for if we want to be on time for it."

Kayla smiled. "Oh, all right. You got me curious now. Well, have fun, whatever it is you're doing. And don't worry, making love is perfectly safe despite her being pregnant with twins." She winked at Aiden.

"How did you know I was thinking if asking that?" Aiden asked.

Kayla laughed. "Believe it or not, it's a very commonly asked question by fathers-to-be."

Aiden blushed, as did Hope.

They said their goodbyes, then left.

"You were rather presumptuous in there, thinking about asking that question," Hope commented, a slight smile playing at the corner of her lips.

Aiden grinned as he drove. "Call it being optimistic!"

"Where are we going?" Hope asked.

"To the airport to catch a quick non-stop flight to Chicago for lunch and a matinee," he said.

Hope grinned. "To see what?"

Aiden grinned. " _Company_. It's still playing. Seeing as we didn't get to see it on our first date, I decided we could have a do over. I have reservations at the same restaurant we went to last time before we were going to head on over and see the show. Let's just hope history doesn't repeat itself. I don't want another cancelation!"

Hope smirked. "Or another lapful of spaghetti."

Aiden laughed. "That either!"

Hope then leaned over and kissed his cheek. "Thank you! This is the perfect way to spend my birthday. I love how you remembered our first date."

"How could I forget?" Aiden asked. "And it doesn't stop there, Baby."

Hope raised an eyebrow. "What's after the play?"

Aiden smiled, revealing his dimples that Hope loved. "You'll just have to wait and see!"

Hope sat back in her seat and looked out the window, wondering what he had planned.

 _ **~*came back to me*~**_

Aiden held out Hope's chair for her at the restaurant, and she sat down. "Thank you," she said with a smile. You really went all out."

"I thought of having you wear the same dress you wore when we first came here, but I figured not everything has to be the same. Besides, I highly doubted you wanted to get all dolled up for your sonogram!" Aiden joked as he pushed her chair back in.

Hope smirked. "Not really."

Aiden sat down across from Hope, and they looked over their menus. "I think I'm going to risk it and order what I did the last time. Maybe this time I'll finally get to try it!"

Hope nodded. "I think I will too." She put down her menu and smirked at him. "Fingers crossed it's not spilled this time!" She crossed her index finger over her middle finger.

Aiden laughed. "Let's hope not! I don't feel like going to the show with a stained shirt and pants! Not to mention I'd smell like spaghetti."

The waiter came then and took their orders.

Once the waiter had left to put their orders in, Aiden took Hope's hands from across the table. "I'm hoping for a boy and a girl. How about you?"

Hope smiled. "That would be nice, but I'll really be happy no matter what we have as long as they are both healthy. It might be nice to have identical twins."

Aiden nodded. "Yeah, it would be." His face then fell a bit as he thought of Chase.

"What's wrong?" Hope asked, gently rubbing her thumb over his hand.

"I was just thinking how Chase would have loved to have a new brother or sister—especially two! He'd be so excited!"

Hope kissed Aiden's hand. "I'm sure he's smiling down from above."

Aiden then turned more serious. "I know you weren't his biggest fan—with good reason."

"I know he was sorry for what he did. When he thought he had lost you, it did something to his head. I will never condone rape—especially not the rape of my daughter. In fact, a small part of me will always resent him for raping my daughter. That being said, I don't hate him anymore. I'm not just saying that because he's gone either. I just realized that, after I killed who I thought was Stefano…it made me realize that when pushed, it can make you do things you normally would never do. Who am I to judge, right?"

Aiden nodded. "We've all done things we're not proud of," he said sadly as he thought of all the ways he had hurt Hope in the past.

"Hey!" Hope said gently. She stood up slightly and leaned in so that she could stroke his cheek. "Let's not talk about the bad things, all right?"

He looked up at her and she smiled at him. He smiled too. "All right."

"It's my birthday, and I want to enjoy it, which so far, I am. I can hardly wait to tell Shawn and Ciara about the twins!" Hope sat back down and took out the sonogram picture to admire it.

"When can we find out the genders?" Aiden asked.

"When I'm about five months along," Hope replied.

"So we have to wait three more months?" Aiden pouted. "But I want to know now!"

"Some parents wait until birth to find out, you know," Hope said.

Aiden looked her in the eyes with a worried expression. "Please don't make us wait that long!"

Hope laughed. "Don't worry!" she pat his hand. "I want to find out right away too." She smiled and winked at him.

Aiden relaxed. "Good!"

They made more small talk, then their food arrived; this time without a hitch.

"To us and our new start," Hope said, holding out her water glass.

"And to you having the best birthday yet!" Aiden added, holding out his own water glass.

They clinked glasses and drank up.

 _ **~*came back to me*~**_

Lunch had been great, and they had even had some chocolate cake and milk for dessert. They then headed to the show, which had not disappointed. Then, after a short flight back to Salem, Aiden took Hope to the next destination that he had planned for her. But first, he blindfolded her.

"Aiden, where are we?" Hope asked.

"You'll see," Aiden said as he led her from behind into the church's school, and then into Father Louis' office. He had gotten permission from Father Louis to use it as long as he locked up afterwards. He stopped Hope in font of Father Louis' desk, then took off her blindfold.

Hope looked around. "Where we first met," she said, remembering right away.

Aiden nodded. "I couldn't believe you were the one I had to make fall in love with me. I thought you were a real pill!" Aiden confessed.

"And I thought you were a real pompous ass!" Hope confessed in return.

Aiden nodded. "I definitely was. But honestly, I was just afraid of falling in love again after what happened with Meredith. Truth be told, the moment I saw you, my heart fluttered. I thought, 'well at least she's beautiful.' It doesn't get more beautiful than you, Hope." He gently stroked her cheek.

Hope looked him in the eyes, her hand gently resting over his hand. "Or more handsome than you," she purred.

They then kissed softly on the lips for a few moments.

"All right! Onto our next locations," Aiden said, taking her hand in his own.

Hope raised an eyebrow. "Locations as in plural? How many are there?" she asked as she let him lead her out of the office. She watched as he locked up.

"Three more," he said.

They then left, leaving Hope even more curious than before.

 _ **~*came back to me*~**_

They had parked in the park, and taken a walk by the river where they had had their first kiss.

"I hated that I was falling for another man, and I tried to deny it. I felt as if I was betraying Bo," Hope had confessed. "But as soon as you kissed me, I could no longer deny I had fallen for you."

"I was madly in love with you. I was worried you'd never fall for me. I tried so hard to get you to fall for me." Aiden grinned. "I even tried to make you jealous by asking Jennifer out. Of course it was just as friends, but you didn't know that." He grinned.

"Well, it backfired on you because I tried to push you two together," Hope reminded him.

"Only so you'd have an excuse not to be with me," Aiden quipped.

Hope nodded. "That is true. But you weren't having it." She grinned.

"Shall we repeat history?" Aiden asked, his eyes lowered with love for her.

Hope, knew exactly what he had in mind. "Fine! Be lonely to your heart's content!" She turned and pretended to leave.

Aiden then grabbed her arm; stopping her from leaving.

She looked him in the eyes.

"That's not what I want!" he said before pulling her in for a passionate kiss, which this time, lasted even longer than their first one had.

 _ **~*came back to me*~**_

"I somehow figured this might be the next stop!" Hope said as they entered the room that they had watched the gala from. It was the room they had had their waltz that had ultimately led to them falling in love.

Aiden kissed her hand. "It's the place I fell in love with you."

"I was falling for you too," Hope admitted. "But I think our first kiss is when I knew for sure."

"I got this for you," Aiden went over to a table that was in the room and picked up a large rectangular box wrapped in red and tied with a purple bow. He handed it to her.

Hope raised an eyebrow. "For my birthday?"

Aiden shook his head. "A just because gift."

"Is it a dress?" Hope asked, knowing Aiden's usual gifts.

Aiden nodded. "Why don't you go put it on in the bathroom?"

Hope smiled. "I'll be right back."

As soon as she left, Aiden changed into a suit he had earlier folded and left in the corner of the room. He had gone to a lot of work reserving the place.

Once he was changed into his formal clothes, he admired himself in the mirror. It had been over four years since they had waltzed that first time, but he still looked good if he did say so himself!

Hope cleared her throat, and he looked over to see her in a stunning purple dress. Her hair was down this time, but she still looked so beautiful to him. He even would have gone as far to say she looked even more beautiful than she had four years ago.

"Do you like it?" he asked.

Hope twirled around, the little diamonds on the skirt of the dress sparkling. The diamonds covered the bodice and rained down over the top half of the dress' skirt. "I love it!" she said.

"I couldn't find one like the dress you originally wore, but I thought this one would be even more beautiful on you," he said.

Hope walked over to him and kissed his cheek, her arms draped over his shoulders. "It's perfect! Thank you." Her fingers gently fluffed the back of his hair.

"May I have this dance?" Aiden asked as he hit the remote, turning their song on. He set the remote down and took her in his arms again.

Hope nodded, her eyes filled with love for him. "Always."

Together they then waltzed, taking them both back to that evening in 2014 when they fell in love with each other for the first time. They danced and danced, needing no words; just like they hadn't needed any the last time either.

When the song ended, Aiden turned the player off, then turned back to her. "You know, none of it was fake."

"What wasn't fake?" Hope asked, confused.

Aiden gently stroked her cheek. "My love for you. I really needed the money, so I agreed to make you fall for me, and I agreed to marry you. Even so, the moment I saw you, I'd have done it without the money. You were so beautiful, and I knew I was going to fall in love for real. I didn't want to be hurt again like I was with Meredith, so a part of me wanted to run. But I needed the money, so I proceeded. But the whole time, I wanted to be with you. I wanted to make you happy. I wanted to be with you. I wanted to marry you. The money didn't matter anymore. I only tried getting the money because I was in debt and needed a way out of my debt. It had nothing to do with my love for you. Nothing! Every bit of my love for you was real and always has been!"

Hope nodded. "I know that now. I may not have wanted to believe it a while back, but deep down in my heart, I always knew it was real. You can't fake love like that."

Aiden shook his head. "You can't! _I_ can't! Which is why I have to ask you this." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small silver velvet box.

Hope covered her mouth as Aiden got down on one knee and popped the lid open, revealing a beautiful silver ring that had a purple diamond heart on top and diamond angel wings on the sides.

"Hope, I don't want you out of my life ever again. I want to marry you again, and this time, I want it to be forever. Will you make me the happiest man in the world and become my wife again?" he asked.

Hope had tears of happiness in her eyes. "Oh, Aiden, I—"

Aiden smiled big as he prepared for her to say that she would. However, his smile quickly faded when she spoke two words that together, meant the opposite.

"I can't."


	27. S2S2

_**This Love…**_

 _ **S2E2: Happy Birthday**_

"Okay, that was not the reaction I was expecting or hoping for," Aiden said, starting to pull the ring back.

"Hey," Hope said gently as she placed her hand over top of his. "It's not that I don't want to marry you. I do want to marry you—just not right now."

"May I ask why not?" Aiden asked.

"I don't want to get married just because I'm pregnant. That should never be a reason to get married," Hope replied.

Aiden shook his head. "But that's not why I want to marry you! Baby, I love you, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you, just as I always have."

Hope nodded. "I know, but Aiden, can you honestly tell me you would have proposed this soon if I weren't pregnant with our babies?"

Aiden thought about it for a moment. "I'd still want to marry you just as much."

Hope raised an eyebrow. "But would you have proposed this soon?"

Aiden shrugged. "I don't know if I would or not. Honestly, I still think I would have."

Hope looked at the ring again. "As beautiful as that ring is, and as much as I love you, I want us to wait. After all the problems we've had in the past—the problems being a little bit of both our faults—I think it's better that we take things slow this time around." She looked back at him. "I want this time to be for good. I don't want to rush anything."

"So, how long do you want to wait?" Aiden asked.

Hope took the ring box from him and closed the lid. "Seven months. We'll wait seven months— until the twins are born. Then, if we're still happily together and wanting to get married, then you can re-propose and I will say yes."

"Seven months? Come on, Hope! That's so long from now!" Aiden complained.

Hope raised an eyebrow. "Aren't I worth the wait?"

Aiden sighed. "Of course you are. Though I am concerned about the 'if' that you put in when it comes to us still being happily together, and wanting to get married."

Hope shrugged. "I know we will be, but you just never know in life. With our past especially, one can never count on anything."

Aiden grabbed her hands in his. "You can always count on my love for you, Hope. Always!"

"And you can always count on _my_ love for _you_ ," Hope said, tears in her eyes from being so touched. "So seven months should be nothing for us. It will be here before we know it. The time will help us get to know each other all over again, and it will help us be able to grow stronger as a couple so that, come _this_ marriage, we'll be a stronger couple than ever before."

Aiden smiled slightly. "Well, I still don't like waiting that long, but when you put it that way, I guess I can understand. At least this way, our twins can be in our wedding. Right?"

Hope grinned and nodded. "They won't remember it when they get older, but we'll have pictorial proof! And yes, it will make our wedding even more special." She placed her free hand over her womb. "I just hope I can carry them both to term. I know a pregnancy at my age isn't going to be easy."

"Hey, don't say that! They are going to be fine. Kayla is an excellent doctor. Plus, I'm going to wait on you hand and foot. I'll make sure our babies stay nice and safe." Aiden placed his hands over her womb as well. "I'm going to be a good daddy, starting right away."

Hope smiled at him. "I know you will be." She then handed him the ring box. "You keep that safe for the next seven months. I fully expect to have that on my finger come August."

Aiden grinned. "Don't worry, it will be." He took the ring from her and put it back in his pocket.

"So, where is our next destination?" Hope asked.

"Dinner at—"

"The same place you proposed to me the last time," Hope interrupted.

"How did you know?" Aiden asked.

Hope smirked. "With all these blast from the past locations, I figured that had to be thrown in there somewhere." She winked at him. "I'm surprised you didn't choose there to propose to me again."

Aiden shrugged. "I was going to, but figured this would be more romantic. Besides, not everything has to be the same since we are starting a new beginning."

Hope nodded. "Very true!" She raised an eyebrow. "Did you reserve it for just us two again?"

Aiden raised an eyebrow of his own. "What do you think?"

"I think I'm going to enjoy having dinner just the two of us," she purred in his ear.

He grinned. "But first, let's not forget our other set of clothes."

"Yes! I have to get mine from the bathroom. I'll be right back," Hope said.

She left to gather up her clothes from earlier, and Aiden gathered up his, as well as the music player. Once he had gotten everything gathered up, Hope came back out with her things.

"Are you ready my love?" she asked as she kissed his cheek.

Aiden nodded. "So ready! Let's go."

So they headed out of the building and off to dinner, both hungry for more than just each other.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

Their dinner had been everything Hope had hoped it would be. They talked baby names, but didn't come up with anything definite. They talked about all the good memories they had had together. Even though, a couple years ago, Hope never would have admitted that she and Aiden had had good times together, now, as she looked back, she remembered that their relationship had been amazing up until the very end when it hadn't been. She knew that Aiden loved her—he always had. And if she was being honest with herself, she had always loved him even when that love was buried a little deeper down for a while.

They ate dinner and then danced…and kissed. They had chocolate cheesecake for dessert, then Aiden took her hands in his. "I think it's time we head off to our final destination. Don't you?" he asked quietly, his eyes locked with hers.

"Does it involve a bed at the Salem Inn?" she asked just as quietly.

He licked his lips and nodded. "Indeed it does."

"Then I'm more than ready!" she said.

Aiden quickly paid the bill and tip, then helped her out of her chair.

They kissed, then quickly made their way hand-in-hand out the doors to finish their night of romance.

 _ **~*came back to me*~**_

"This is the same room we first made love in, you know," Aiden said as he opened the door.

"It is? You remembered the number?" Hope asked in surprise.

Aiden nodded. "I know it's usually the woman that remembers things in relationships, but I've always been one to remember even the small details."

Hope walked into the room and sat down on the bed. She set her overnight bag down on the floor. "I still can't believe you packed me an overnight bag and had it hiding in the trunk this whole time. That was so sweet of you. When did you pack it?"

"The other night when you were taking a shower after we had made love," Aiden admitted.

Hope nodded as it suddenly dawned on her. "So that's why you wouldn't join me! I _thought_ that supposed headache you said you had had come on rather suddenly!"

Aiden grinned. "No headache. It was just the only time I could pack your bag and get it out to the trunk without you seeing." He set his own overnight bag down, then plopped down next to Hope on the bed.

"Well, I love my surprise. Thank you so much for this." Hope rested her forehead against his. "Thank you so much for _everything_ today. It was the perfect day."

"And now I want to give you the perfect night," he said, his voice thick with love for her.

Her eyes lowered with love for him. "As long as it's a night spent with you, it _will_ be the perfect night."

"I love you so much…" Aiden murmured.

"Show me." Hope began unbuttoning his shirt. "Show me how much you love me," she murmured as she slipped off his jacket and began kissing him.

Aiden moaned. She didn't have to tell him twice! He slowly lowered her down onto her back, his kisses instantly moving to her neck as his hands made quick work of removing her dress…

 _ **~*came back to me*~**_

Hope tangled her fingers in Aiden's hair as he made love to her, his lips on her neck, kissing a trail from under her jaw, all the way down to her collarbone.

Her head was thrown back, giving his lips and tongue full access to her neck. Her lips were parted slightly and her eyes were closed as she took in all the pleasure he was giving her.

He brought his lips to hers, and she kissed him passionately, trying to show him in her kiss how much she truly loved him.

The truth was, she did want to marry him. Heck, after today, she would have married him that night! But she knew that was her heart speaking. Her head was telling her to go slow, and remembering their past history, she knew this time it was important to listen to her head first and foremost. She wanted things to last between them this time. She knew that their relationship would be much better for it if they waited to get engaged and didn't rush into anything. They could spend their time perfecting their relationship and then get married. Too many couples tried to do it the other way around, she knew, and the marriages usually ended up troubled. She and Aiden had had enough trouble in their relationship in the past. This time, she wanted to work all the kinks out and just finally relax and enjoy being together before getting engaged and married. This time, she wanted their marriage to last forever.

With a new sense of determination, she rolled them so that she was now the one on top of Aiden. She just suddenly felt the need to show him how much he meant to her. After all, he was always showing her how much she meant to him. She just wanted to return the favor. She had such a hunger for him. She attacked his mouth with her own, and soon, her lips had made a trail down to his chest and stomach. Her lips and tongue were all over his body, for she was suddenly overtaken with a deep appreciation for his body that always knew how to make her feel so good. She wanted to make him feel good in return.

"Hope…" Aiden murmured, his breath heavy, and his voice practically a whisper, "Come here. I want to hold you. I want your lips on mine."

Hope was happy to oblige. She kissed her way back up Aiden's body, and soon he had moved them so that they were both siting up, her legs around him from the front as he continued to make love to her, their tongue's playing with each other's. By the end, he had her pinned down below him again.

He kissed her neck as they came back down from their pleasured high. They then lay I each other's arms, side-by-side, kissing a little more lazily, but with just as much love as always.

They then both lay down on their backs.

Hope smiled. "Wow. Happy birthday to _me_!" She said with a heavy sigh. She grinned, then turned to face him again and gently stroked his cheek. "Thank you for making this the best birthday yet," she murmured. She kissed his cheek, and gently pushed some hair out of his eyes.

He pushed some hair out of her eyes as well, then kissed her softly on the lips before responding. "You deserve nothing but the best."

They kissed some more.

"Care to join me in the shower as usual?" she asked with a grin.

"Mm, you read my mind," he said, kissing her some more, his hand trailing up to her left breast. "Though, I can't promise we'll get much washing done. I'm thinking something much dirtier."

Hope laughed, and placed her hand over his. "You always are."

They grinned at each other.

Just then, Hope' cell phone rang. "Hold that thought," she said with an eyebrow raised and a smirk on her face.

She looked at her caller ID. "It's Shawn." She looked at Aiden. "He wants to FaceTime. He's probably calling to wish me a happy birthday."

Aiden nodded toward her phone. "Go ahead and take it." He quickly picked up the t-shirt he had worn underneath his dress shirt earlier, and tossed it to her. "I'll get the water started for us so that it's the perfect temperature by the time you get there."

"Thank you," Hope said. She quickly put the shirt on so that Shawn wouldn't get an eyeful of his mother's naked chest, which Hope was sure would surely traumatize him.

She and Aiden then quickly kissed, then Aiden headed to the bathroom.

After quickly making sure nothing that shouldn't be showing was showing, Hope smiling, answered her phone. "Hello, Honey! Ciara! You're there too!"

"Happy Birthday, Mom," Shawn and Ciara said in unison, big grins on their faces.

Hope grinned. "Thank you, my babies!"

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

Aiden ran the water, and once it was at the perfect temperature, he went out to see if Hope was off the phone yet.

He stepped into the room and stopped short when he heard Hope and her kids still on the phone.

"I'm glad you're having fun. I just wish it were with Rafe instead of Aiden," Shawn said. "I know you're pregnant with his kid, but honesty, it should be with Rafe's child. He didn't mean for the twins to die. It was irresponsible for him to leave them unattended, yes. But don't you think he suffered enough?"

"Yeah, Mom. Rafe was so good to you! All Aiden has ever done for you is cause you grief!" Ciara chimed in.

"Hey! That's so not true! Yes, Aiden's and my relationship wasn't always perfect, but what relationship is? When your father abandoned us, or so I thought at the time, Aiden showed me what love and happiness was again. I never in a million years would have thought I'd fall in love with a man that wasn't your father, but then Aiden came along, and showed me what love was all over again. He did make me happy—very happy and still does! Lying to me is really the only way he ever wronged me," Hope defended.

"Mom, he tried to blackmail you into staying with him. Are you forgetting that?" Ciara asked.

"He realized his mistake and let me go. He was just distraught from losing me. Heck, I killed a man when I lost your father. Losing the love of your life can make you do crazy things. You learn from them and you move on," Hope replied.

"Having your husband of thirty years die in your arms is quite different than losing a girlfriend of two years to another man," Ciara said; not buying it.

"Amount of time together doesn't always determine the intensity of the love you share or the pain of the loss," Hope reasoned.

"Well, let's not forget the even worse thing he did. He was willing to kill you for your insurance money, Mom. He was willing to steal from Ciara and me!" Shawn added.

"Yeah! What about that?" Ciara asked.

Hope sighed. "Okay, that was bad. I'll admit. But, at the same time, his son's life was in danger. If I was willing to kill a man over the loss of my husband, I'm not quite sure I wouldn't have tried to kill Aiden if I were in the same position. Shawn, if someone threatened to kill Claire, wouldn't you be desperate to save her? Wouldn't you maybe not be thinking clearly and logically?"

Shawn was quiet for a moment before answering. "I suppose so," he finally said reluctantly. "But I still think I would have told Belle about it and not killed her—especially if she were a cop!"

"Aiden's not a cop like you and I. He doesn't think the way we do. Heck, obviously even being a cop doesn't mean you're always in your right mind. What matters is he ended up not being able to go through with it, despite his son's life being in danger. He was a little delayed in proving it, but he proved his love for me in the end," Hope reasoned.

"Yeah, after putting it in danger to begin with," Shawn grumbled.

"And trying to steal from us," Ciara added.

"What he did was wrong, yes. But even without my insurance money, you two would have been well taken care of. And as for putting me in danger, Andre and Stefano had it out for me. Aiden was just their pawn. They would have gone after me with or without Aiden getting involved," Hope stated.

"We'll just have to agree to disagree on this," Shawn said.

Hope looked like she was about to cry. "I want my children to love the man I love. Can you two please just do this one thing for me on my birthday and try to accept him?"

Shawn sighed. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you. I'm just worried. I don't want to lose you, Mom."

"Honey, you're not going to lose me! Trust me this time Aiden really has changed. I know it and I've seen it. I promise! He makes me _so_ happy—deliriously happy even. Not to mention he's the father of your brother or sister." Hope bit her lip. "I want you to love him like I do."

"Can you settle for me simply tolerating him?" Shawn asked. "At least for now?"

Hope grinned. "And being civil to him?"

"If it makes you happy then, yes. For your sake, I will be civil to him. But if he does one thing to hurt you, he's a dead man. Got it?" Shawn asked.

Hope rolled her eyes. "Shawn, he's not going to hurt me, and you will not do anything to him. But I appreciate you looking out for me. I love you."

"I love you too, Mom," Shawn said.

"I'll try to accept him too. I just really wish you'd have given Rafe another shot," Ciara said.

"It wasn't just the twins' death that broke us up. I never fully stopped loving Aiden. My love for him just won out. I couldn't help it. The heart wants what it wants," Hope said simply.

"I agree with you on that," Ciara said.

Hope smirked. "Is there a new love in your life?"

Ciara grinned. "Maybe. But we'll talk about that later. You just have a happy birthday. I'll be coming home for a visit next week. I'll give you your birthday gift then."

Hope smiled big. "Really? Yes! Ever since you moved to California, I've been missing you like crazy."

"Yeah, she waits until I go visit her in California to tell me she'll be back in Salem the following week! I wouldn't have had to take the week off!" Shawn said with fake annoyance.

Ciara rolled her eyes. "You're loving exploring Cali and you know it."

Shawn smirked. "All right, it's true. It has been nice seeing the sites with my little sis!" He draped his arm around her.

"Aw!" Hope had happy tears in her eyes. She loved when her kids got along!

Ciara grinned at Shawn, then turned her attention back to Hope. "I miss you, Mom, but California had the best veterinary school. If I'm going to be working with animals, I want to be able to do it right." She grinned. "Can we have another girl's night when I get back?"

"You know it!" Hope said, her grin matching her daughter's.

"Yay!" Ciara said; excited. "I love spending time with you, Mom."

"I love spending time with you too, Baby. I'm so proud of you for wanting to become a veterinarian, and working hard for it. You always did love animals."

Ciara smiled. "But you never let me get one. Now that I'm living on my own, I not only get to work with them, but I get to own them too! Two adorable Siamese cats. I'd bring them down for you to meet, but they don't like traveling."

"Those things are nasty little suckers! I swear they are only nice to Ciara!" Shawn grumbled. "Look what one of them did to me!" Shawn held up his right hand, which now had a big long scratch down the back of it.

Ciara rolled her eyes. "I told you not to rub her belly. You didn't listen, so that's what you get!" She turned her attention back to Hope. "I gotta go, but you have a happy birthday, and I will see you next week! I love you."

"I love you too, Baby. Both of you," Hope said.

"I'll give you your present when I get back. I knew Aiden would hog you all to himself on your birthday; otherwise I would have come back for it," Shawn said.

"Shawn, Aiden would have not minded having you spending some time with us if you were here," Hope said.

"Three's a crowd. I love you though. Have a good night and happy birthday again," Shawn said.

"Thank you. Goodnight." Hope kissed her hand and touched the screen, then the call ended.

"They hate me. I knew it," Aiden said, coming into the room.

Hope looked at him in surprise. "You heard that?"

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have eavesdropped. I just heard them taking about me, and couldn't help myself." Aiden looked down at the floor.

"Come here." Hope held out her arms.

Aiden walked over to the bed and sat down next to her.

Hope pulled him close. "They're my children. They're just protective of me. They'll come around. I promise." She kissed him.

Aiden relaxed in her arms. "I hope so."

"They will." Trying to change the subject, Hope asked, "So this room just happen to be un-booked?"

Aiden grinned. A couple already had it reserved for two nights. I knocked on their door yesterday and offered them money to change rooms. They obliged. I then made sure to get this room reserved for tonight, and that the maids would have it cleaned by the time we arrived tonight. There's even a bottle of chilled champagne in the bathroom on the hot tub ledge. I say we take advantage of the hot tub after the shower." He grinned.

Hope grinned too, and took his hand. "If there's any hot water left by then. Heck, we'll be lucky if the shower is still warm! Sorry. I didn't mean to talk that long."

"Never apologize for taking to your kids. Anyway, there is always other things we can do while we wait for the water to warm up again," Aiden purred as he led her by the hand into the bathroom.

Hope raised an eyebrow. "What did you have in mind, Mr. Jennings?"

He pulled off her tee shirt and picked her up. "Take a guess," he said, his eyes lowered with desire for her.

She moaned, and they kissed.

As they got into the thankfully still warm shower, and as they kissed, heating up the area even more, Aiden couldn't help but think about Shawn and Ciara's distaste for him and their love for Rafe. He had to do something to get them to like him. If they ended up liking him even better than Rafe, then that would be better yet. Right now he was a little preoccupied…

Hope kissed down his neck, gently nipping at the skin. "Make love to me again," she ordered with a slight moan of desire.

With Hope still in his arms, he pressed her back against the wall and began to make love to her again, his lips and tongue getting reacquainted with _her_ lips and tongue.

But once he didn't have more pressing issues at hand, he would think of something. He'd get back on Ciara and Shawn's good side again and show them that he could be just as good as if not better than Rafe if it was the last thing he did!


	28. S2E3

_**This Love…**_

 _ **Season 2 Episode 3: Human**_

"I'm so excited for Ciara to be visiting! I know it's only been a month, but it still seems like ages since I've last seen her. Veterinary school keeps her so busy!" Hope said as she changed the linens on Ciara's old bed. "I'm also glad Shawn was able to get the time off of work. I guess I have Roman to thank for giving both him and me the time off so that we could have a family day."

Aiden helped straighten the sheet on the other side of the bed. "Thank you for letting me pick out the activities. I picked out something I'm sure Ciara will love, and then something I'm sure Shawn will love."

Hope smiled sympathetically at him. "Don't mention it! I appreciate you're making the effort for them to get to know you again. I'm sure once we spend time together they will see how much you've changed. They'll come around; you'll see."

"I sure hope so," Aiden replied. He looked down at the bed, his eyes not really focusing. "I know they wish you were still with Rafe instead of me." He then looked at Hope. "I worry sometimes you will wish that too."

"Hey, where did that come from?" Hope asked. "I want to be with _you_ ; not Rafe. You're the main reason if not the whole reason why I broke it off with Rafe. My heart wanted to be with you."

Aiden nodded. "I know. I just love you so much, Hope! I know it was all my fault, but I already lost you once. I couldn't bear to lose you again."

Hope walked over to his side of the bed and gently rested her forehead against his. "Hey. You're not going to lose me, all right?" She gently stroked his cheek with the back of her hand. "So stop worrying that you're going to."

Aiden weakly smiled. "All right." He took her hand and kissed it. "But I overheard the kids when you were on the phone with them. They clearly hate me and love Rafe."

"Well, they are both adults now. Who I decide to be with is not up to them any longer. You're not in any danger to me or them, so they're just going to have to deal with it!" Hope took her spot on the other side of the bed again and began to put the blankets on it. "Anyway, like I said before, they are just overprotective of me. They'll come around once they see how much you've changed. I'm sure of it!"

"I just worried that maybe they were getting to you. I mean, you didn't even tell them you're pregnant with twins yet." They had finished with the last blanket, so Aiden picked up the comforter and helped Hope spread it over the bed.

"I just felt that it would be more fun to tell them in person." Hope looked at Aiden. "Trust me, it has absolutely nothing to do with Rafe, or how they feel about you."

Aiden smiled, feeling a little paranoid and silly now. "Okay."

Hope grinned at him. "Okay?"

Aiden grinned bigger. "Okay!" he confirmed.

"Good!" Hope aid with a nod. "Now change that pillow case for me and put it on her bed, would you? I'm just going to do some sweeping before Shawn gets here with Ciara."

"I can sweep," Aiden offered. "You shouldn't be doing too much work."

Hope smirked. "No offense, my Love, but the house will be cleaner if I do the sweeping, just as we're more able to not end up in the emergency room if you're the one who does the cooking!"

"I'm not _that_ bad of a cleaner," Aiden protested, a slight pout on his face as he set down the pillow on the bed, having just switched out the case.

Hope raised an eyebrow. "The last time you swept the floors for me, I found piles of dust under the carpet _and_ under the couch."

Aiden blushed. "I guess there's no short cuts when it comes to cleaning, huh?"

Hope smiled, and shook her head. "No. Don't worry. Sweeping won't overexert me."

Aiden walked over to her and gently placed his hands around her waist. "I know. I just want to make sure my future wife and our babies stay healthy."

They kissed.

"We'll all be fine." She patted her stomach then kissed Aiden once more before heading off to get the sweeper.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

The door opened, and Hope put the broom away. She had just finished sweeping. She knew it could have gone faster if she had used the vacuum, but she had just had new hardwood flooring put in downstairs and didn't want to risk ruining the floors. Aiden had told her she was being over cautious. She knew she was. A vacuum wouldn't hurt hard wood. But she wanted everything to be perfect for Ciara's return, so for now, the broom it was!

"I'm home!" Ciara called out.

Hope ran over to her and they embraced. Hope then gave her a forceful kiss on the cheek with a loud "Muah!"

Ciara grinned. "I missed you too, Mom."

Aiden nervously cleared his throat and headed over to her. He nodded politely at her. "Hello, Ciara. It's good to see you again."

Ciara put on a fake smile and nodded at him, but didn't say anything.

He looked at Shawn and nodded at him too. "And of course you too, Shawn." He grinned he offered his hand.

Shawn stared at his hand but didn't shake it. "I wish I could say the same!"

"Shawn Douglas Brady, don't even start! You promised me you'd at least be civil. That is not being civil!" Hope chastised. "Apologize right now!"

"I'm sorry," Shawn said, though his eyes were on Hope and not Aiden's when he said it. He then looked at Aiden. "I'm glad to see you're doing well. How's your law firm coming along?"

"It's going great, thank you. The construction is finished, and I finally have my staff hired. I just have a bit of last minute interior decorating to be done yet. It will be opening in two weeks!" Aiden said proudly.

"That's great," Shawn said, though he didn't sound like he cared.

"Where are your bags?" Hope asked Ciara, just then noticing that Ciara didn't have any.

"Oh. They are still in the car. I'll be staying with Shawn while I'm here since Claire's in New York with Belle," Ciara stated.

"Oh. I thought you were going to stay here," Hope said, a little disappointed. "I cleaned your room and everything."

"Sorry, Mom but I wanna stay with Shawn," Ciara said with a shrug. "I'll still be over a lot."

"Since your mother went through so much trouble, maybe you could compromise by spending half your time here?" Aiden suggested. Ciara would be staying for four nights before heading back.

Ciara glared at him. "It's because of you that I don't want to stay here. If you want me to stay here, then stay at the Salem Inn for the next four nights!"

"Ciara!" Hope snapped.

Aiden felt his face warm with embarrassment. "I have my own place. I don't live here," he assured her.

Ciara shrugged. "Whatever. You'll still be around all the time."

"Ciara, the same applies to you as it applies to Shawn," Hope said, a warning tone to her voice.

Ciara sighed, and looked at Aiden. "Look, I've given you so many chances to be good to my mother and all you did is lie. You seem to be currently making her very happy, and you are the father of my new sister or brother, so I'm willing to give you a chance. However, do not push me into accepting you. I need to do this at my own rate."

Aiden nodded. "Fair enough. You know what? Why don't you three hang out just the three of you? I can do something else."

"I think that's an excellent idea!" Shawn said.

Ciara nodded. "Me too!"

"No! You're going to give him a chance. You said you will, so now you're going to. Aiden planned a nice day for us all to spend time together, and for you guys to get to know each other better. That is exactly what we're going to do! I know you're both adults now, but I don't care. If you don't go along and at least try to have a good time, I'm not afraid to take you both over my knee and spank your behinds." Hope crossed her arms over her chest and glared at her children to show them that she meant business!" She raised an eyebrow. "So what's it going to be?"

Ciara sighed, and rolled her eyes. "Fine. Whatever. I'll go."

Shawn crossed his arms over his chest as well, and looked from Hope to Aiden, to back to Hope. "Let's just get this over with."

Hope smirked. "Good! I knew you'd see things my way!"

"Where are we going?" Ciara asked as Aiden helped Hope with her coat.

"It's a surprise! You'll just have to wait and see!" He smiled and winked at her as he put his coat and boots on.

Ciara fought to not roll her eyes.

Once Hope had her boots on as well, they all headed out.

"This is going to be fun!" Ciara said.

"See? That's the spirit!" Aiden said to her.

Ciara laughed a mocking laugh. "I was being sarcastic!"

Shawn laughed too.

Aiden blushed again. He was getting a glimpse of the ten-year-old Ciara she used to be, and he wasn't quite sure he liked it. Not that Shawn was any help either… He just hoped that after today they would change their minds about him. After all, he wasn't sure how much more attitude he could take from them.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

"The zoo? You got to be kidding me. What are we, five?" Ciara asked snottily as she crossed her arms over her chest and rolled her eyes.

Aiden's heart sank. "I'm thought you'd like it because of the animals. You know, with you being a vet and all."

Ciara smirked. "I doubt when I become a vet that I'll be working with many zoo animals."

"Ciara, I warned you, knock it off! You love all kinds of animals, so stop acting like you don't. And who says the zoo is only for children? I for one love the zoo," Hope chastised.

Ciara rolled her eyes. "Whatever." However, her facial expression softened a bit and she turned to Aiden. "Thank you for thinking of me. I suppose I do love seeing the wild cats, foxes, and wolves."

Shawn sighed. "The wolves are pretty cool. I heard they have a new pup on display. I wouldn't mind seeing it."

"There you go!" Hope said. "Now can we please continue on with no complaints?"

"Fine," Ciara and Shawn both grumbled.

"Thank you," Aiden said quietly to Hope as he wrapped an arm around her.

She kissed his cheek. "Give it time," she murmured, wrapping an arm around him in return and giving him a tight squeeze.

 _ **~*came back to me*~**_

Throughout their walk through the zoo, Aiden had tried to bond with Ciara and Shawn, but they weren't having it.

"Would you guys like a hot chocolate?" Aiden asked as they stopped at a drink and snack stand.

"I'll take one; thank you," Hope replied.

"We didn't even have dinner yet. I don't want to fill up on chocolate before we even eat," Ciara said without looking up as she rapidly texted someone on her phone.

"I'm going to go look at the elephants over there," Shawn said to his mother before walking a few yards away over to the elephants without even acknowledging Aiden or his question.

"I'm sorry. Neither one of them usually acts this way," Hope apologized.

"Just with me," Aiden said as he ordered his and Hope's hot chocolates.

Once they had their hot chocolates, they sipped them, then headed into the reptile room.

"Look, Aiden. Relatives of yours?" Ciara asked as they got to the snakes.

Shawn burst out laughing. "Good one, Sis!" They high-fived.

Hope opened her mouth as if to stick up for him, but Aiden spoke before she could. "No, I'm related to the rats actually."

Hope laughed. Ciara had just the hint of a smirk on her face, but it quickly disappeared. As for Shawn, he shrugged and replied, "I think you're a little bit of both."

"Well, remember that snakes shed their skin and start anew, Shawn," Aiden said with a sigh. He was running out of patience.

They left the reptile building.

"All right! I think they monkeys are up next!" Aiden said.

Ciara's face it up.

"You like monkeys?" Aiden asked her.

Ciara rolled her eyes. "Not the monkeys, you moron! Rafe!"

Aiden was confused, but when he followed her gaze, he knew what she had meant. Rafe was headed their way, smiling big at Ciara.

Aiden felt his heart sink, instantly feeling their family day start to crumble.

 _ **~*came back to me*~**_

"Hey, Rafe! Thanks for coming!" Ciara said, hugging him tightly.

Rafe smiled big. "Hey! What's up? How's vet school treating you?"

"It's treating me well, thank you. It's not as hard as I had feared it would be," Ciara said.

"Well that's good!" Rafe replied.

"Hey, Rafe! What's up? What are you doing here?" Shawn asked, side hugging him. "It's good to see you!"

"Ciara actually texted me, telling me she needed me, and that it was important." Rafe looked at Hope and Aiden. "I'm sorry, maybe I misunderstood her. I didn't realize you two would be here."

"You didn't misunderstand me. It's honestly so lame here; I needed someone non-lame like you to come save me." Ciara grinned, now placing an arm around Rafe's waist.

"This was supposed to be our family time together, Ciara," Hope said, glaring at Ciara. She looked at "Rafe. I'm sorry. I don't mean any offense to you. Hello, by the way."

Rafe smiled at her. "Hi."

"Aiden's not family!" Ciara snapped. "Rafe is! You made a commitment to him! He was your husband and you started banging Aiden behind his back."

Hope's mouth dropped open. "I can't believe you just spoke to me like that."

"Ciara, show your mother some respect, all right?" Aiden asked, trying to keep his tone calm.

Ciara shook her head. "You're not my father so stop trying to act like you are!"

"Look, I think it's best I leave." Rafe turned to Ciara.

"Rafe, no! Please don't go!" Ciara begged.

Rafe looked at her, and smiled at her sympathetically. "Ciara, I appreciate all the love you're showing to me, but what happened between your mother and I is between her, myself and Aiden. All right? It's okay. I'm moving on. I'll survive. Sometimes you can't help what the heart wants. Your mother did the right thing by filing for divorce. As much as I love her, I can't be with a woman who loves another man."

He looked at Hope. "I have something I wanted to tell you anyway. I might as well tell you now before I leave. I'm leaving Salem. I can't live in the same town as you and Aiden. I can't witness you two together all the while being reminded of what I lost."

"Where will you be moving to? What about your job?" Hope asked quietly.

"I will be going to Argentina. My mother moved back there after my aunt that she was caring for got better. I have dual citizenship since I was born there, so living there won't be a problem. I called a few contacts of mine and I was able to get a transfer into their police department."

"That will be nice! So, are you moving there for good?" Hope asked.

"I'm going to try it for a year and see how I like it. If not, I may move to Vegas. I have a few buddies down there," Rafe explained.

"Well, I wish you luck! I'm sorry things didn't work out between us, but I do wish you the very best!" Hope said, giving him a big hug.

Rafe smiled at her, and hugged her tightly back. "Thank you."

"When do you leave?" Shawn asked.

"I leave at the end of the week. I just have a few more things to get done here. Gabi will be going with me to visit for a while. She wants to teach Ariana about the Argentinian culture," Rafe explained.

"So soon? Rafe, no! Please don't go!" Ciara said. "You should stay here and try to work things out with Mom!"

"I'm sorry, Ciara, but I have to go. That ship has sailed and it's not coming back," Rafe said softly. "But hey, maybe I can come visit you from time to time. I'd love to have you visit me as well."

Ciara nodded, looking like she was about to cry. "I'll miss you."

Rafe hugged her. "I'll miss you too."

"I'm going to miss having you on the force. You were one heck of a cop!" Shawn said to him, patting his back.

Rafe pat his back in return. "Thanks, buddy! It takes one to know one! I'm going to miss you too. Like Ciara, you can come visit me any time."

"I might just take you up on that and maybe even bring Claire with me," Shawn said.

Rafe nodded. "You do that! I'd love to have you both come see me."

After exchanging hugs with Ciara and Shawn once more, Rafe bid the three of them farewell. The only acknowledgement he made to Aiden was a warning.

"You take care of Hope or I swear I'll hunt you down and kill you myself. They'll never find the body either," Rafe growled.

Aiden smiled smugly at him. "I don't know. They might find it. After all, someone found the last body you tried to hide. Oh, and by the way, the zoo-keeper called. They're on to the fact that a baboon escaped and they want you back."

Rafe looked like he was about to say something, but then he seemed to have thought better of it, turned his back, and left.

"Real mature, Aiden!" Ciara snapped.

"At least I didn't give him a death threat!" Aiden said. "Come on. Let's go see the monkeys, and then I have a special dinner cruise planned for all of us. Shawn, I know you love boats. I reserved us a spot for us all on the Sail Away Salem dinner cruise."

Shawn narrowed his eyes at him. "Boating is something I used to do with my dad." He pointed to Aiden. "You are not my dad!" He shook his head. "I am not going!"

"Shawn, don't be like that!" Hope begged.

"You know, it's because of you that Rafe left! My gosh, why couldn't you and your rapist son just stay the heck away from my family!" Ciara snapped.

Shawn nodded. "For all we know, he could be a rapist too!"

"Could be!" Ciara agreed. She glared at Aiden. "I wish you had been in the car with your rapist son. Then you'd both be dead and out of our lives for good—the way it should be!"

Hope gasped. "Ciara Alice Brady, shame on you!"

Aiden shook his head. " _ **Enough**_!" He had raised his voice so loudly that he got more than just Ciara, Shawn and Hope's attention. Everyone around them stopped and looked over at him.

He clenched his fists and shook with anger. He could feel his face flushing red as he looked at Ciara and Shawn. "I tried to roll with the punches. After all, I know I brought your distrust upon myself. But I can no longer just sit back and take it. What my son did was wrong, but he was sorry for what he did! He got the mental help he needed, and did not deserve to die! He was making some positive changes in his life. Also, I am not my son. I would never lay a hand on your mother that was not wanted!"

"Whatever!" Shawn said.

Ciara rolled her eyes at Aiden.

"No it's not, 'whatever'! I have changed. I am doing everything in my power to be the kind of boyfriend your mother needs. She deserves to be treated like a princess, and I fully intend on treating her like one. I am going to spend the rest of my life making it up to her for the things I did to her in the past. But I am not that man I used to be anymore. We all make mistakes. It's called being human. We learn from them and we move on all the while bettering ourselves. God forgives, and so should the rest of us. I can guarantee you there is no other man on this earth who loves your mother as much as I do. I can't even begin to explain to you the amount of love that is in my heart for her and our baby! You don't have to like me. Fine. I get it. But I still deserve respect! All I wanted was to try to bond with you guys, and to help you see the real me. Ciara, I honestly thought you'd be thrilled to spend the say seeing animals. After all, you love animals, don't you? You must love them, being a veterinarian-to-be!"

Ciara, arms crossed, looked away from him.

"And Shawn. I'm sorry. I should have been more sensitive to the fact that boats were something you did with your dad. I honestly didn't even think about that. I just wanted to do something you liked, and I knew you liked boats."

Shawn glared at him, his arms crossed over his chest as well.

Aiden continued. "However, instead of thanking me, you both are acting like a bunch of spoiled little brats! As you asked me earlier, Ciara, what are you, five?" Aiden snapped.

"Don't you talk to her like that!" Shawn snapped.

"Don't you talk to _me_ like that!" Aiden said angrily. "Mocking me, calling me a snake. Heck, you even tried to get your mother back with her ex right in front of me! You do remember that she was my wife first, right? Heck, she even slept with Rafe when still married to me!"

"Guys, please, stop…" Hope said quietly.

No one seemed to hear her.

Rafe is a good guy! He's done nothing but protect my mom. You however, were going to kill her and steal her life insurance money!" Ciara reminded him. "There's a big difference!"

Shawn nodded. "Not to mention all the lies that you told!"

"Guys…" Hope put her hands to her stomach.

Still, no one seemed to hear her.

"I wasn't thinking clearly! In the end, I couldn't go through with it. I was willing to put my son's life at risk for her. That should show you right there how much I love her!" Aiden yelled.

"Yeah, well, we hate you!" Ciara yelled. "I wish you'd just drop dead right now!"

"Someone please help me!" Hope yelled; loud enough to be heard this time.

Aiden, Ciara, and Shawn, all looked as she collapsed to the ground, her stomach in her hands.

"Baby, what's wrong?" Aiden asked, running over to her.

"Mom!" Ciara and Shawn both cried out.

"Is it the babies?" Aiden asked with concern. "Call 911!" he snapped at Shawn.

Shawn hesitated for a split second, then quickly dialed 911.

"The babies?" Ciara asked in shock.

Aiden nodded. "We were going to tell you at dinner tonight. We found out on her birthday we're having twins."

Shawn hung up the phone after finishing his call. "They're on their way. Twins?" he then asked, his eyes wide.

Aiden nodded.

"Aiden, I'm scared. I don't want to lose the twins! It hurts. It hurts so badly!" Hope was now curled up in the fetal position, her hands still on her stomach.

Aiden had tears in his eyes. "You won't. Everything will be fine. The ambulance is on its way, Baby." He stroked Hope's hair and laid down beside her so that he could rub her back and kiss her cheek. "Ciara, please call Kayla and make sure she'll be at the hospital when we get there," he said quietly.

Ciara nodded, and quickly dialed her aunt Kayla. She was scared out of her mind, and could tell by the look on both Shawn's and Aiden's faces, that they were just a scared as she was.

She silently prayed to God that the twins would be okay, suddenly feeling guilty for the way she had acted.


	29. S2E4

_**This Love…**_

 _ **Season 2 Episode 4: We Are Family**_

"What is it, Kayla? What's wrong? Are the babies all right?" Aiden asked as Kayla looked at the screen of the ultrasound she was currently doing.

Kayla smiled reassuringly. "The babies are fine," she assured him. She looked at Hope. "The cramping is perfectly normal. It just means your uterus is expanding because of your pregnancy. It tends to be more intense the more babies you carry," she explained, her smile appearing again.

"Thank God that's all it is! I was so afraid I was going to lose them," Hope said, her hands on the side of her stomach as she looked down at her stomach with watery eyes. "I don't remember that happening with my other pregnancies. I mean, I got cramping, but this was intense!"

Kayla turned the machine off. "I assure you, it's nothing to worry about. So far everything is looking great for both babies."

"So, is she free to come back home?" Aiden asked.

Kayla glanced at him. "Yes," she said simply before turning her attention back to Hope. "Was there anything stressing you out when you got the cramps? I know stress can sometimes trigger them."

Hope shrugged. "It was nothing, really. The kids are just having a hard time adjusting to me accepting Aiden back into my life."

Aiden sighed. "I tried to push things too fast by having a family day out together at the zoo. The kids weren't having it. They were angry with me and rude to me. I tried to ignore it, but Ciara told me she wished I had died like Chase, and in so many words, said that he and I both deserved to die. She also invited Rafe to join us. I snapped, and went off on her. Then of course she and Shawn went off on me in return. That's when the cramps started." He looked away in shame.

Kayla's expression was sympathetic. "I can see both sides. You can't expect the kids to just forgive you overnight. They are very protective of their mother. But Ciara shouldn't have said what she said to you. I think it was only normal for you to lose your cool. But you have got to get it together. Do you know what stress can do to a baby?"

Aiden shook his head. "It's been so long since Meredith was pregnant with Chase. I don't really remember much."

Kayla looked at Hope. "Surely you know?"

Hope nodded. "I never really had a problem with stress in the past though."

"Well, let me inform you. When you're stressed, your body releases cortisol and other hormones that are the same hormones your body releases when you feel you're in danger. You get into the fight or flight mode, which causes an enormous amount of stress if it happens too often. Stress from the mother, believe it or not, can alter your babies' stress management systems," Kayla began. "Their bodies could have an inflammatory response."

"Which means?" Aiden asked, still not getting it.

Kayla looked at Aiden. "It means it can mean poor pregnancy health. It can also cause developmental problems down the road for the babies. When in the womb, babies are very susceptible to their mother's feelings and habits and it can affect the way they develop." She looked at Hope. You being over stressed could cause the babies inflammatory responses to make them come out much earlier than they should. Also, they could in turn also be a much lower weight than they should be. It could even do as much damage as to make one or both of your babies have behavioral issues in the future."

"It's kind of hard to reduce the stress lately," Hope said.

Kayla shrugged. "Well, you need to find a way to manage the stress. Your babies' lives could depend on it—especially with you having them so late in life. Have you considered taking some time off from your job?"

"I'll take time off once I go on maternity leave," she replied.

Kayla shook her head. "Not good enough! I recommend you take time off immediately. I know you love your job, but I'm sure it can also be stressful."

"Not to mention it's dangerous, being a cop," Aiden said. He looked at Hope. "I don't want you risking your life or our babies' lives. What if some criminal kicks you in the stomach or shoots you? Even with a bullet proof vest it can't be safe."

"He has a point," Kayla said.

"I've been a cop for many years now. Trust me; I know how to handle myself," Hope said; slightly annoyed that they were trying to make decisions for her.

"Well, it's different now! It's not just about you anymore, Hope. You've got two more lives inside of you. You're an amazing cop, yes! You're a pro at what you do. I'm not saying you're not. But you're not exempt to the danger any more than any other cop is. Things still happen." Aiden took her hand in his own and kissed it. "I just don't want anything bad happening to you or our babies."

Hope looked at him, her expression softening. "I have to work. I'm not the type to just sit at home doing nothing."

"Well, maybe you can ask Roman to give you a desk job, or have you do traffic tickets. At least then you'd be safer, and you'd still be able to help fight crime," Kayla suggested.

Hope raised an eyebrow. "Giving someone a ticket for parking illegally is barely considered fighting crime." She sighed. "But, if it will help protect the twins," She looked at Aiden, "and help you feel better, then fine. I'll ask Roman to just give me non-dangerous, non-stress-inducing work."

"Thank you!" Aiden kissed her hand again.

Kayla nodded. "The first trimester is the most dangerous, so especially now it is imperative that you remain stress free and take care of yourself and the twins."

"I will. I promise," Hope said.

Kayla wiped the gel off of Hope's stomach, then Hope pulled her shirt back down and sat up. "Thanks Kay. I appreciate all the advice."

"You're very welcome!" Kayla said, hugging Hope once Hope was standing up again.

"Don't worry, Kayla. I'll take good care of her and the babies," Aiden assured her.

"I'm going to hold you to that!" Kayla said with a nod.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

Hope was up at the desk, filling out a form and talking to Maxine. Shawn and Ciara had been waiting in the lobby, and were more than relieved to hear that their mother and the babies were going to be okay. Hope had told them everything, and now both Shawn and Ciara were feeling guilty.

"Yo. Aiden," Ciara called out.

Aiden looked over at her.

Ciara nodded toward the private waiting room. "Can we talk to you for a minute? Please?"

Aiden nodded, and followed them into the room. Shawn shut the door behind them.

"We want to apologize. We acted like children earlier, and it was uncalled for. We know you were just trying to do something nice for us," Ciara began.

Shawn nodded. "I'm just very protective of my mother. You hurt her so badly in the past—twice at that! It's just a little hard for me to be able to trust you the third time around. Even so, I never should have been rude to you. I can see you're trying to change for the better. I don't know yet if I believe you _will_ actually change for good, but I'm willing to see if you do. This _will_ be your last chance though. Mark my words."

Aiden nodded. "As it should be! I promise you, I will not let you down. I'm really sorry I tried to push this day on your guys. I'm just so eager for you guys to like me and, for you to give me another chance. You both love Rafe so much. I can see why. He protected your mother when I only hurt her. But I promise you, you will see that I can be just as good of a guy as he is. I already love your mother more than I feel anyone else ever could. Romantically anyway."

"I'm sorry I invited him to the zoo and tried to push him and mom back together. That was disrespectful and rude to you and I apologize," Ciara replied.

Aiden nodded. "It's all right. I agree, you shouldn't have invited him, but I understand. I shouldn't have expected you to just forgive me just like that and accept me."

Shawn blushed. "As for me, I was a jerk for snapping at you about the dinner. I guess no matter what age I get, I'm still worried about someone trying to take the place of my dad. With Rafe it was different because he had my father's blessing. With you, I don't even like y—I mean… I haven't even warmed up to you yet, so it made it even worse. I know you weren't trying to take my dad's place. It just felt like you were."

"I'm sorry. I promise that was no my intention. I just knew you liked boats, and honestly it was one of the only things I knew about you, so I went that route," Aiden admitted.

"For me, well, you know me. I haven't changed. You can just buy my happiness with diamonds or any other kind of gemstone," Ciara teased.

Aiden laughed. "I'll keep that in mind."

"But seriously, I'm sorry I acted like a brat. I told myself this year I'd be more mature, what with my schooling and internship. Then here I went, reverting back to my ten-year-old days. The zoo was actually a very thoughtful idea, and I enjoyed it more than I let on, so thank you," Ciara said.

Shawn nodded. "I enjoyed it too."

"I don't trust you a hundred percent yet either, but I'm willing to give you a chance—a real chance this time," Ciara promised.

"I appreciate that. And in turn, I promise to not be so pushy," Aiden said with a nod. "By the way, what changed your mind about me so suddenly?"

Ciara and Shawn looked at each other, then at him.

"We saw how caring and concerned you were when our mom was on the ground with bad cramps," Shawn admitted.

Ciara nodded. "I'm her daughter, but I wouldn't have laid down on the dirty ground like you did with her. It made me realize how much you really do love her."

Shawn nodded. "It made me realize that too."

"I do," Aiden said with a nod of affirmation. "I have since the day I first laid eyes on her."

Shawn nodded toward the door. "I guess we better get back out there. Mom's probably starting to wonder where we got to."

"Is it too soon for a group hug first?" Aiden asked them with a hopeful grin.

Shawn and Ciara both gave him a look.

"Baby steps, Aden," Ciara said, an eyebrow raised at him.

Shawn nodded. "Plus, that seems a little bit corny, don't you think?"

Aiden laughed. "Yeah, I suppose you're right."

They headed back out to the lobby, and Hope smiled when she saw them. "There you are! I was wondering where you three went." She raised an eyebrow. "Is everything all right?"

Aiden, Shawn, and Ciara all nodded.

"We've come to a better understanding of each other," Aiden told her.

Shawn and Ciara both nodded.

Hope looked at them suspiciously. "Okay…" She looked at her watch. "It is too late for the dinner cruise?"

Aiden nodded. "Sadly, yes. But you and the kids can go out. I'll get fast food or something and go back to my place so that you guys can have some mother, son, daughter bonding time—just the three of you." He smiled weakly.

Hope looked like she was about to say something, but Ciara spoke first.

She shook her head. "No. We're supposed to spend the whole day together, remember? That includes evening." She grinned at him.

Shawn nodded. "We can always go to Red Lobster. We may not be able to eat on the boat, but we can at least still feel like we're at sea, right?" he joked.

"Are you guys sure you don't mind me joining you? Because I'm totally cool with giving you some space," Aiden said, his hands held up.

"Join us, please," Shawn said to him.

Ciara nodded. "It will be fun," she said with a smile.

"You heard them. They want you to come with us." Hope smirked and raised an eyebrow. "You don't want to disappoint them by not joining us, do you?"

Aiden shook his head and smiled; revealing his dimples. "I wouldn't dream of disappointing them!"

Hope grinned. She kissed his cheek, then wrapped her arms around Shawn and Ciara.

"To Red Lobster it is!" Aiden said, walking on ahead of them and therefore leading the way. _Maybe things are finally looking up_ , he thought happily. Hope and the babies were okay, the kids were finally accepting him, and Rafe was leaving town very soon. He just hoped things continued going well, for he knew that with him, good things happening was usually just the calm before the storm.

 _ **~*came back to me*~**_

"So, I know you guys don't know the genders yet, but do you have any names in mind for the babies?" Shawn asked as he took another bite out of his cheddar biscuit. He closed his eyes. "Man, these things are heaven!"

Hope smirked. "Don't fill up on those before your dinner even gets here! And no, we haven't really decided upon any names yet. At least _I_ haven't." She looked at Aiden. "Have you?"

"Actually, if either of them is a girl, I kind of have a name that's become special to me," Aiden admitted.

Hope smiled, and gently stroked his hair. What is it?"

"Madeleine," Aiden replied.

Hope smirked. "You mean Madeline?"

Aiden shook his head. "No. Not Mad-el-ine, but Mad-el-aine."

"It's kind of pretty, but different when pronounced that way. Why Madeleine?"

"Well, it actually has to do with Chase," Aiden confessed.

Ciara paused from her chewing and looked at him.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't be talking about him in front of you," Aiden quickly apologized.

Ciara swallowed the bite of biscuit and shook her head. "No, it's all right. He was your son. Continue what you were saying." She sipped her iceless Coke.

"Well, one day I walked in on Chase listening to a Backstreet Boys CD. I told him it didn't sound like the kind of music he usually listened to. I asked him what he was listening too. He was embarrassed to tell me, but I finally got it out of him that it was Backstreet Boys. He was embarrassed to be listening to a boyband. Of course all in good fun, I razzed him about it. But then he admitted there was this one song he couldn't get out of his head. His friend's girlfriend loved the Backstreet Boys and was always making them listen to Backstreet Boys when they were all in the car together. One of their songs is named 'Madeleine" and Chase fell in love with it as soon as he heard it. He downloaded the song and taught himself to play guitar to it. His friend had taught him how to play guitar, so I had bought Chase a guitar, and it really seemed to help him heal. Chase had an amazing voice; you wouldn't believe it. When I heard him play and sing 'Madeleine', it made me fall in love with the song too. Now I really love the name," Aiden explained.

Hope smiled at him and gently squeezed his hand. "You can name our daughter Madeleine. That is, if at least one of them is a girl." She winked at him.

"So, you like the name?" Aiden asked her.

Hope nodded. "After that story, yes. I do like it! It's different, but it's also very pretty."

They smiled at each other.

"I was thinking the name Haiden. That could work for either a boy or a girl," Ciara suddenly spoke up.

They both looked at her.

"Haiden?" Aiden asked.

Hope grinned big, knowing exactly where her daughter had gotten that name. "It's a combination of both our names," she explained to Aiden. "It's your name with the H from Hope before it. Not a bad name choice, actually."

"H-aiden. Haiden. I get it now." Aiden grinned at Ciara. "I think that would make a great boy name! Or, like you said, if your mother and I had two girls, it could also serve as a girl name."

"Too bad the best boy name is already taken," Shawn said.

Hope, Aiden, and Ciara looked at him.

"What name?" Hope asked him; confused.

Shawn grinned, and pat his own chest. "Shawn of course!"

Ciara rolled her eyes, but Aiden and Hope both laughed.

"Very funny!" Hope said sarcastically.

Aiden was still smiling as he looked at his watch. They had ordered a half hour ago. His smile faded and looked around, wondering if their food was coming yet. He was starving.

Suddenly, his eyes fell upon a woman who was all too familiar to him. She was tall with a short blonde bob. She was way overdressed for red lobster with a big fur coat, a black quilted Channel bag, white dress slacks, black high heels, a white button-up blouse with pearls, and a black and white form-fitting blazer. She was waiting to be seated, looking at her diamond watch. She had a scowl on her face as if she were annoyed that anyone dared to make her wait to be seated.

As if sensing that she was being watched, she looked over, and their eyes met. Her grin grew wide, and she quickly headed for their table.

"Crap!" Aiden muttered under his breath.

"What?" Hope asked.

Before Aiden could reply, the woman showed up right beside him. "Aiden! It's been so long! Over half a year! How come you never call me?" She pouted.

"What are you doing here, Carol?" Aiden asked, not even trying to disguise his annoyance.

Carol pouted. "That's not really the nice greeting I would expect from you."

"Aiden, who is this?" Hope asked; curious.

Carol smiled at her. "We talked on the phone before—years ago when you wanted me to take care of Chase. Sorry I couldn't do it at the time. I was about to go on a cruise with my new boyfriend. Well, then boyfriend anyway. I simply could not take a teenager in. I'm too much of an on-the-go person!"

"So that means you must be…" Hope trailed off.

"My sister," Aiden finished for her. "Carol is my sister, and she was just leaving."

Hope, Shawn, and Ciara all looked confused.

Carol just rolled her eyes and smirked; not having his brash behavior. She clicked her tongue. "So rude! All right, I'll leave you to your family dinner. Just a fair warning though? You haven't seen the last of me." She turned to Ciara. "Love the necklace by the way."

"Thanks. My friend Rafe gave it to me," Ciara said.

Aiden chose to ignore it. He knew Ciara was just stating a fact. Besides, he had a bigger problem on his hands…

"It's stunning, just like you," Carol said to her.

Ciara tossed her hair over her shoulder and grinned. "Why thank you!" She never had been one to turn down flattery.

Aiden fought to not roll his eyes. He didn't want Ciara thinking he was rolling them at her.

After Carol left, Aiden shooting her a nasty look until she was seated on the opposite side of the restaurant, Aiden turned his attention back to Hope, Ciara, and Shawn.

"What was _that_ all about? Don't you like your sister?" Hope asked.

"I don't want to talk about it. Can we please just forget we saw her and enjoy the rest of our evening?" Aiden asked with a weak smile.

Before Hope could reply, their food came. Thankfully for Aiden, everyone was so hungry that food took precedence over their curiosity.

As Aiden ate, he only half listened to Ciara telling them about a funny story that happened at her internship. His mind was too occupied thinking about his sister, what she was doing there (she always had an ulterior motive), and how he could get her the heck out of Salem as quickly as possible.


	30. S2E5

_**This Love…**_

 _ **Season 2 Episode 5: Oh! Carol**_

It was early February. It had been a week since Aiden had seen Carol at Red Lobster. He had thought he'd lucked out and that she had given up and left Salem, but lo and behold, Carol had called him earlier that day just after Hope had left for work. Carol had begged him to spend the day with her.

He didn't have much left to do for the day since his new office didn't have an official opening until the end of the week. He had pretty much everything prepared already, and had all his active cases taken care of at the moment. Also, he was curious as to why she was in Salem. He knew he probably didn't want to know, but he had to know in order to get her the heck out of Salem. So, against his better judgment, he had agreed to have coffee together at The Horton Town Square.

He met her there promptly at ten, eager to get his time with her over with.

"Aiden!" she said, rushing to him when she saw him, then air kissing both of his cheeks as if she were French. She actually looked French, he noticed, what with her striped black and white shirt and just above-the-knee black skirt. She wore a long red overcoat with a matching red beret and scarf. She wore white tights and red heels.

"Why are you dressed like you're from France?" he couldn't help but ask her.

She smirked. "Aiden, my sweet brother, why limit yourself to dressing in only the style of one country? I'm too bold and too loud for that!"

"That you are," he said as they headed to a table.

"Why thank you!" she said with a smile.

"It wasn't a compliment," he grumbled.

A waitress came over before he could reply. Aiden was glad it wasn't Amy. He could only imagine what torture he'd have to go through with both his sister and Amy in his presence. They were both way too loud and way too nosy for this early in the morning.

"I'll just have a coffee with cream please," he requested.

"What? No food?" Carol asked him.

"I ate breakfast with Hope before she left for work," he explained.

"I thought we were going to eat breakfast together," she whined.

"You can order something. I don't mind waiting," he said, motioning to her menu.

She closed her menu and pushed it aside. "I'll just have an espresso, please. Black."

The waitress left to get their coffees.

"You could have ordered something," Aiden told her.

She shrugged. "I can hold off until lunch. It's no fun eating alone."

Aiden sighed. So she planned on spending lunch with him. Great! "So, why are you here, and how long are you here for? Where are you staying?"

"I'm at that quaint little B&B owned by that Kate woman. She's a bit of a bitch, but her prices are better than the Salem Inn's. As for length of my stay, I'm staying for as long as I need to. I want to spend time with my little brother. Do I need a reason for wanting to spend time with you?" Carol asked.

Aiden rolled his eyes. "Come on, Carol. You never cared about spending time with me before. In fact, starting from your late teens, you have avoided hanging out with me. Why do you suddenly want to hang out now? What do you want?"

Carol pouted. "Come on now. You know that's not fair! I was away at college, and then I had Craig. He took up a lot of my time."

"Craig was an abusive asshole! You ignored mom, dad, and me—family—when we were just trying to help you get out of that train wreck of a relationship." Aiden snapped. "I don't know why you even married that loser to begin with."

Carol shrugged. "I was only married to him for a year. Also, it was only emotional abuse. I divorced him the first time he hit me. I didn't stay with him like those pathetic women who think they can't survive without a man, or think that he'll never do it again."

Their coffee arrived.

Aiden paid the waitress right away.

"I could pay for that," Carol said, though she made no effort to get out her wallet.

"It's only a few bucks. Don't worry about it," Aiden said.

"Thanks," Carol said. She sipped her espresso. She continued their conversation. "Then my career took off, and then I met Bobby. He was so fun! He was really good to me too, but we just wanted different things in life."

Aiden smirked. "Something you should have thought about before you agreed to marry him."

Carol shrugged. "We were able to get it annulled! Hey, we were both drunk and in Vegas. What do you expect?"

Aiden sipped his coffee. His sister always had been a wild one. She had given their parents a run for their money! "Then there was Dylan. Gosh, you're only fifty, yet you've been married four times."

Carol shot him a look of annoyance. "I _told_ you, Bobby's and my marriage was annulled. So in the law's eyes, I've only been married three times. Dylan wanted kids; I didn't. So we divorced." She shrugged. "It happens."

"Again, something you should have talked about before marriage," Aiden said.

"You know me; I'm impulsive. I prefer to act before I think," Carol said nonchalantly.

"That you do. Finally something we agree upon!" Aiden said. He smirked. "Anyway, it sounds like you're one of those women you talked about who thinks she can't survive without a man," he said before sipping his coffee.

Carol shrugged. "I didn't need any of those men. I just wanted a little fun in my life; that's all."

Aiden smirked. "And of course you can't have any fun just dating someone. You have to make it official.

"Oh shut up!" Carol snapped, only halfway sounding like she meant it.

"So, who's the flavor of the month now?" Aiden asked. You change boyfriends so often I can't keep up anymore."

Carol shrugged. "I'm in between beaus."

"Matt was a nice man. I don't know why you ever divorced him," Aiden said, shaking his head. He was referring to her most recent ex-husband.

Carol narrowed her eyes at him. "I caught him in bed with Mandy."

Aiden nearly choked on his coffee. "Little Mandy Simmons? That shy girl you graduated high school with?"

Carol nodded. "She's not so shy anymore. Last I heard, she has a job as a stripper…the kind that leave nothing to the imagination and do extra favors in the back room if you know what I mean." She winked at Aiden.

"Wow. I'm sorry. I didn't know. Why didn't you tell me?" Aiden asked. As much as he was angry with his sister, he did love her deep down. He knew what it felt like to have the one you love fall for someone else. Though, he had doubts about the depth of Carol's love for any man. She got bored easily. Even so, she didn't deserve to be cheated on. _The guy could have at least had the decency to leave her first,_ Aiden thought.

Carol shrugged. "No sweat off my back. He was getting boring. Anyway, I took him for all he's worth." She grinned. "Looks like Miss Mandy is going to have to work some extra shifts and do some extra favors in order to be able to support them both."

"I bet he's sorry he didn't get a pre-nup," Aiden quipped.

Before Carol could respond to that, Andre walked over to their table, a huge smile on his face, revealing his perfect, pearly white teeth.

"Well hello, there, Aiden!" Andre purred, "Such a pleasure to see you here! And who is this lovely lady with you, might I ask?"

Andre smiled at Carol, his eyes lighting up.

Aiden looked at Carol, who was smiling at Andre, her eyes lit up as well.

Aiden rolled his eyes. _Here we go again,_ he thought to himself; annoyed.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

Hope arrived at work just as she would any other day.

"Hope!" Roman came over to her as soon as she entered the station.

"Roman! Good morning!" She pushed some hair behind her ear and tried to look natural.

"With Rafe gone, I've done a little rearranging with partners. I've decided to partner you and Shawn together. He's running late today, but when he comes in, I figure I'd let you tell him the news. That is, if you two think you can work together without it being weird, being mother and son and all."

Hope shrugged. "I don't have a problem with it." She really did think it would be cool to work with her son. She was sure Shawn would feel the same way. However, she knew that Shawn knew about her orders not to work on big cases. She just hoped that Shawn wouldn't tell on her.

"Here he comes now." Roman pat Hope's shoulder. "I'll let you tell him the good news. I have a few calls to make." He then took off, leaving Hope to deal with Shawn.

"Hey, Mom. What's up?" Shawn asked as he came over to her.

Hope smiled weakly. "Hey, Honey." She hugged her son.

Shawn held her arm's-length. "Uh oh. What's wrong?"

Again, Hope nervously pushed some hair behind her ear. She put on a smile, trying her best to make it look sincere. "Wrong? Nothing's wrong. Why would you ask that?" She laughed nervously.

Shawn crossed his arms, and raised an eyebrow. I've known you all my life. You can't fool me. I also know that look. You look worried. "What's wrong?"

Hope sighed. "Roman has just made us partners." She grinned big. "See? Good news!"

Shawn raised an eyebrow again. "Didn't Aunt Kayla tell you to take it easy? I believe you also promised Aiden you would."

"Yeah, well, Kayla and Aiden think they know better than I do when it comes to what I can and cannot handle." Hope crossed her arms over her chest. "They don't know anything."

"Well I'm not sure about Aiden, but I'm pretty sure Kayla knows a thing or two about keeping both you and my siblings healthy," Shawn said, the concern apparent in his voice.

Hope rolled her eyes. "I'm not going to do anything to put the babies at risk. I'll be fine. Nothing bad is going to happen to me or the babies. Working isn't going to change anything."

"I don't know… You know as well as I do how dangerous our line of work can be," Shawn reminded her.

Hope sighed; exasperated. "Shawn, do you honestly think I'd put the twins' live at risk—especially after what happened to RJ and Faith?"

Shawn looked away, instantly feeling the gut-wrenching sadness again from having lost his half-brother and sister. He looked at Hope. "No."

Hope placed a hand on his shoulder, her expression softening. "Shawn, I _have_ to work. I'm going to be miserable if I'm not working. Giving away traffic tickets and looking over files isn't going to make me happy. It will stress me out more than doing real would. Kayla says I'm not supposed to be stressed, so not working would be more damaging to the babies' health than it would if I worked."

Shawn sighed. "That sounds like you're twisting things around, but I guess…"

"Besides, you'll be my partner. You'll have my back; right?" Hope asked with a smile.

Shawn nodded. "Of course!" He grinned. "I guess it _would_ be kind of cool working with my mom since I never got to work with Dad."

"See? It's a win-win for both of us," Hope reasoned.

"I suppose so," Shawn reluctantly agreed.

"So, it's settled then? You won't tell Kayla, Aiden, or even Roman that I'm supposed to not be on the field?"

Shawn sighed. "I guess not…for now. But the moment we get assigned anything too dangerous, I'm putting an end to this and telling Roman. All right?"

Hope nodded. "If there's anything I find to be too dangerous, I'll take my leave of absence."

Shawn nodded too. "Deal."

"Remember, no mentioning this to anyone—especially not Aiden," Hope warned.

Shawn shrugged. "Fine by me. He's always hid secrets from you. It's about time you hid a secret from him." Even so, he planned on keeping an extra close watch on Hope. No way was he going to let his mother or his unborn siblings get hurt!

Hope smiled. Good! Now she'd just have to keep an eye on Shawn and make sure he kept his word and didn't accidentally spill anything he shouldn't be spilling.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

"Andre, this is my sister, Carol," Aiden introduced.

"Younger sister?" Andre asked with a Cheshire cat smile.

Aiden was sure Andre was putting her on.

Carol giggled; falling right for it. "I'm actually older by five years. "But people do mistake me for the youngest all the time." She primped her hair.

Andre kissed her hand. "You are certainly beautiful and youthful looking enough to be younger."

Again, Carol giggled. "Well, aren't you the charmer?"

Aiden cleared his throat. "What about Kate, Andre? You know, your girlfriend? Where is she?"

Aiden looked at Aiden in surprise, as if he had forgotten he was there. "Kate and I decided to call it quits for good this time. We were never good for each other. We were off, we were on, we were off, we were on. It got to be too much of a hassle. She liked to rule me. I need a woman who is willing to share the limelight." He grinned at Carol. "Someone like you, perhaps? I don't see a ring on that finger of yours."

"Sorry, she's only in town for a short amount of time, then it's back to Portland," Aiden said quickly. The last thing he needed right now was for his sister and Andre Dimera to start some sordid love affair. _Gross_.

"Oh, I don't know. I'd be willing to stay in Salem for a while. After all, I do have a brother here." She dug into her quilted Chanel bag and took out a pen and personal stationary set. She wrote down her cell phone number and name, ripped it out of the tablet, then folded the paper up and handed it to Andre. "Call me some time." She winked and smiled at him, even adding in a little tongue click.

Aiden put a hand to his forehead. His sister was literally giving him a headache.

"Well, Andre, not to be rude, but my sister and I have some important things to talk about, so it you wouldn't mind…" Aiden trailed off, letting Andre fill in the blanks.

Andre looked at him. "But of course. My apologies for intruding. You and I should get together sometimes; knock back a few drinks or something. Wait, you don't like to drink. You can come over to dinner and invite your beautiful girlfriend."

Aiden snorted. "Yeah! I'm sure Hope would love that he said sarcastically; amused.

Andre ignored him and looked at Carol. "Of course you're more than welcome to come as well."

Carol grinned. "I might just take you up on that." She winked at him.

Andre kissed her hand. "'Parting is such sweet sorrow that I shall say goodnight till it be morrow.' Not that it's nighttime, but you get the idea. Oh anyways, I'll be calling you." Andre winked, then took off.

Carol was swooning as she watched him walk away.

"You may want to steer clear of Andre Dimera. He's nothing but trouble. Believe me," Aiden grumbled. He drank down the rest of his coffee.

"I don't know. I think he's dreamy. I love the accent. Aren't you friends with him? He seemed friendly with you." She drank down her espresso, then ditched their cups in the nearby trash bin.

Aiden shook his head and stood up. "I'd hardly call us friends. We're more like civil acquaintances."

"Well, I think he's quite charming. I mean, he quotes Shakespeare? No one does that anymore! Only in the movies." She sighed happily. "He's like a mysterious handsome prince!"

"More like the devil incarnate," Aiden grumbled.

Carol either didn't hear him or ignored him. She grabbed his hand. "Come on! Let's go see a movie and do some shopping. Then we can get some lunch!"

"But I hate shopping!" He said as she practically dragged him away.

"Don't be such a baby! You _need_ me to take you shopping; trust me. That shirt you're wearing is ugly as sin," she quipped.

"Hope got that for me," Aiden protested.

"Well, Hope has bad taste!" Carol said.

Aiden shot her a look, but let her pull him along anyway.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

The movie hadn't been too bad. One of the few things in common that Aiden had with his sister was that they both loved romance movies. Carol always used to tease him as a kid for being a boy who loves "chick flicks" as she called them.

"Let him be! That just means he's going to know how to treat a lady when he gets older," his mother would always tell her.

It was true. To this day, Aiden loved romancing the woman he loved. Of course, he hadn't always treated Hope right, but those times he had just been too blinded by his love for her to see clearly. He was better now, and he would never hurt Hope again.

After the movie, Carol dragged him downtown to a couple stores at the mall. She claimed it was far better than the dinky little stores at the Town Square.

"How do you even know about the mall down here? Have you ever been in Salem before?" Aiden asked.

"I have a computer you know. One of the benefits of having a computer and internet access is that you can see anywhere you want to see without having to actually go there." She held up a shirt to Aiden. "That looks good. I'm 'a get you that." She tossed it in the mini cart.

"That is ugly and loud," Aiden said.

She smirked at him. "Just like you!"

Aiden shot her a look all the while laughing sarcastically.

Carol rolled her eyes. "Relax! I'm only joking. You're handsome. You just dress a little boring; that's all. You need to dress more exciting."

Aiden raised an eyebrow at her. "I'm a lawyer, Carol; not a clown. I don't need to dress loud."

"I think thou dost protest too much!" Carol teased. She rolled her eyes. "Fine. How about this suit? I think stripes will look nice on you."

"Yeah, if I join a mob," he quipped.

Carol let out a frustrated cry. "My gosh, you are impossible to shop with! Now I see why mom always complained when she had to take you shopping for new school clothes."

Aiden sighed. "Look, honestly, I already have all the clothes I need. Can we please just go now? We can get that lunch you've been so hungry for."

Carol sighed. "I suppose." She grinned mischievously. "But you're at least getting the shirt."

Aiden looked at the price tag. "There's no way I'm paying five hundred dollars for a shirt I don't like—an ugly shirt at that!"

The shirt was yellow with purple swirls all over it.

"Fine. That's the last time I go shopping with you!" Carol said, hanging the shirt back up.

"Promise?" Aiden asked.

Carol stuck her tongue out at him.

"And you're supposed to be my _older_ sister," Aiden quipped.

Again, Carol rolled her eyes. "Come on, Party Pooper! Let's go. I want to eat at Jay Bird's. It's just a block away. We can walk. We still have an hour on the meter anyway."

As they walked down the street, having left the mall, Aiden stopped in his tracks.

"What is it?" Carol asked.

Aiden looked up at an office building that was for sale. "It's beautiful. Look at that glassed-in roof!"

Carol looked up. "Neat! It's like a whole other room up there, only surrounded by glass!

"The sign says the whole building's for sale," Aiden said in awe. The building as a two-story brick building. It was three stories if you counted the rooftop room. "The view up there would be beautiful at night. My building doesn't have a view, but seeing as this building is smack dab in the middle of the city, all the city lights would give it a breathtaking view."

"Wow. I've never seen you this passionate about anything! Not counting Hope of course." Carol smirked. "You should totally buy this building for your law firm."

Aiden looked at her. "I just spend most of my money on my new law firm. I can't just buy this building and go through the whole process all over again. I need to get working! I can't wait another six months, or however long it would take to get this building up to code and set up for my firm."

"You could work from your current law firm until you get this one up and running. Heck, some of the stuff you just bought for your other law firm, you could move on over to this one," Carol reasoned.

"This place is slightly bigger. I'd need even more furniture. Not to mention I'm sure this building isn't cheap." Aiden looked at his sister. "Not everyone is as rich as you are, my dear sister."

Carol smiled, and put her hands to her heart. "Aw! You consider me dear to you?"

Aiden smirked. "It's just a figure of speech."

Carol rolled her yes. "You know you love me whether you admit it or not!" She took out her phone, and brought up her notepad. She typed in the number on the sign, then put her phone back into her purse. "I've been lucky enough to make some good investments, and to marry rich. Getting a good divorce settlement helps."

"Please tell me you're still in real-estate? You were pretty high up there in rank. I know that helped get you to your financial standing as well," Aiden said to her.

Carol nodded. "I still have my license, but I quit my job when I married Matt. We wanted to travel the world, and a job restricted me from doing that. Matt was filthy rich, so neither of us needed jobs anyway." She sighed dreamily. "Those were the days. I miss his money more than I do him, believe it or not!"

They arrived at the restaurant, and got seated.

Aiden sighed as they sat down. He was losing sight of why he had agreed to spend the day with Carol. He had to find out why she was here. They would have lunch, he'd get it out of her, and then he could send her packing right back to where she came from. He hoped so anyway.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

"I'm actually thinking about moving here permanently. I like it in Salem. It's a nice change from boring old Portland," Carol said as they ate.

"Then maybe you should move back to California," Aiden said. Carol had moved there after their parents had died, but after her failed marriage with Matt, she had wanted to get as far away from him as possible, and that had meant moving back to Portland.

Carol shook her head. "Na! I'm bored with both places. I've been there; done that. I want to try living here now with you." She smiled at him. "My brother."

Aiden shook his head as well. "Oh, no you're not! You're not staying here. I want you back where you came from. You need to live your own life!"

Carol sighed. "Why do you hate me so?" she asked.

Aiden glared at her. "Do you really need to ask?"

Carol set down her fork. "My gosh, Aiden, tell me you don't still blame me for our parents' death! Do you know how much that tore me up? Don't you know much I still beat myself up over that? How guilty I still feel? It took years of therapy for me to finally accept that it wasn't my fault!"

Aiden shrugged. "In a way, it was. Had you not been too drunk and busy at the bar with that loser you had just met, whom to this day you don't even know his name, you would have been there to pick mom up from work like you promised you would! Then Dad never would have had to pick her up on his work break, and they never would have died!" Aiden was yelling now, and people were starting to stare.

He looked away; fighting the tears that were starting to come into his eyes.

Carol paused for a moment before speaking in a quiet voice. "Aiden, I made a mistake, all right? Had I thought for one moment that… It could have just as easily been mom and me, you know."

Aiden looked at her, anger burning in his eyes. "Had you picked her up on time, that truck wouldn't have even been there yet. But, no. Because of your irresponsibleness, Mom had to wait for a ride home. Dad didn't get to pick her up until an hour after you were supposed to pick her up! And before you try to say I could have picked her up, remember that I was taking are of Chase, who was too sick to get out of bed. I had no one to watch him. I couldn't have gone even if I had been asked to pick her up. I didn't even know she needed a ride. I assumed you were going to pick her up like you promised you would."

"Aiden, please don't bring this up again. I already have a lot on my plate," Carol said, her voice suddenly surprisingly timid.

Aiden laughed bitterly. "You mean like you did when you couldn't even show up for mom and dad's funeral? Like you couldn't be bothered to take Chase in years ago when he thought I died and he needed you the most? Like you were so busy you couldn't even bother to show up at Chase's funeral?!" He slammed his hand on the table, and stood up; angry again. This time, he didn't care if people were staring. "He was your nephew for gosh sakes, Carol!"

"All right! I get it! I've been a crappy daughter, a crappy sister, and a crappy aunt! I'm just a crappy person in general! Like I said, I get it! But Aiden, this time my problem is serious! Please, you have got to listen to me!" Carol cried, tears in her own eyes now.

"What, Carol? What could be so important that it brought you out of Oregon to bother me here in Salem after years of now giving a damn about me or anyone but yourself? What is it?" Aiden asked, so angry and annoyed that he was shaking.

"Carol looked him in the eyes, her own eyes filled with tears. "Aiden, I'm dying."

Aiden felt his whole world come to a jolting stop. It was as if someone had suddenly hit the pause button on that moment. "Excuse me?" he asked, slowly sitting back down.

"My kidneys are failing, Aiden. I need a new kidney or I'll die. I was kind of hoping you'd be willing to give me one of yours."

Aiden just looked at her. Though he had been _so_ angry just a moment before, he was suddenly at a loss for words.


	31. S2E6

_**This Love…**_

 _ **Season 2 Episode 6: I Will Always Love You**_

Hope woke up to see that Aiden was already awake. He was lying on his back in bed, his hands resting over his stomach as he stared straight ahead into space.

She turned on her side, facing him, and gently stroked his hair. "Still thinking about your sister?"

It had been a few days since Carol had hit Aiden with the bomb of wanting him to be her kidney donor. Aiden still hadn't given her an answer on what he was going to do.

He looked at her. "Yes." He sighed, then turned to face her. "I feel like I'd be a monster if I just let her die. I mean, I'm her brother for goodness sake! I can't just let my sister die! On the other hand, she hasn't really been a true sister to me since we were kids. Even then she used to tease me all the time. We never fully got along a hundred percent."

Hope smiled, and gently stroked his cheek. "All big sisters pick on their little brother. That part's normal. I'm sure you weren't exactly innocent either."

Aiden grinned. "I did put a frog in her vanity drawer once. I could hear her scream from all the way outside! Mom grounded me for a week!"

Hope laughed. "I love hearing stories from your childhood. You never really talked to me much about it. I'm glad you finally told me the reason behind you not being her biggest fan." Aiden had told her about his and Carol's estranged relationship a soon as he had gotten back from his day with Carol.

Aiden looked her in the eyes, and gently stroked her hair. "I just don't like talking about my childhood. I miss my parents so much! As for Carol, I can't get myself to stop blaming her for their death. I know deep down she didn't want them dead. Even so, there is always that little voice in my head that reminds me that they wouldn't be dead had she just been responsible enough and picked up my mother when she said she would."

"It's understandable," Hope said. "I wonder why she didn't go to your parents' funeral or even Chases' for that matter. I guess maybe it was too much for her to handle?"

Aiden shook his head. "She planned her vacation to the Everglades during the same week she knew my parents' funeral would be held. Do you know how lonely it was to have to be there without my sister's support? She didn't even shed any tears. She was too wrapped up in her loser boyfriend whom she had just met at the bar the night my parents died. Four days later they are vacationing together. Why he agreed to go on a last minute vacation with a girl he had just met less than a week prior is beyond me!"

"What was her excuse for not being at Chase's funeral?" Hope quietly asked.

Aiden rolled his eyes. "Bermuda. She was in Bermuda with yet another guy. My sister gets around. Now she's hitting on Andre Dimera. Can you believe that?"

Hope wrinkled her nose. "Gosh. Good luck with that one!"

"She's always loved a bad boy," Aiden said. "Oh, and I forgot to tell you that Andre invited us all to dinner at his place some night soon. Doesn't that sound like a blast?"

Hope shot him a look. "You've got to be kidding me."

"I know, right?" Aiden sighed. "Andre has been acting like he and I are friends lately, but I still don't trust that guy as far as I can throw him."

"You can never trust a Dimera," Hope muttered. She sighed. "So, do you know what you're going to do yet?"

Aiden shook his head. "Am I a horrible person for not wanting to give my sister a kidney?"

Hope took his face between her hands and softly kissed his lips. "It doesn't make you a horrible person at all. If you were a horrible person, you wouldn't be worried that it made you a horrible person." She gently stroked his cheek with the back of her hand. "To be honest, I'm not sure how I feel about you giving her one of your kidneys. "What if, Heaven forbid, one day you have a problem with one of your kidneys and need the other one? What if way down the road, both of our twins need kidneys? I can't give both of mine. People can need kidney transplants even has teenagers! I know I may be paranoid, but when it comes to something this serious, you have to look at all angles."

"So you don't think I should do it?" Aiden asked her. "Say the word and I won't do it."

Hope kissed his cheek, then stroked his hair. "I wish I could make the decision for you, but this is something you have to do all on your own. Only you can decide if this is something you want to risk or not. But I can say that I will support you in whatever decision you make."

Aiden sighed. "That doesn't make it any easier for me to decide."

"I'm sorry. Did she say how long she has?" Hope asked.

"She needs to know within the next few weeks. She's not going to die tomorrow or anything like that. She is on dialysis. Still, the sooner she can get a transplant the better." Aiden rolled back onto his back and stared up at the ceiling. "I think I need more time to decide. I do love her. I mean, estranged relationship or not, she is still my sister. It's just that, she hasn't acted like a sister to me ever. Now she wants to be back in my life only because she needs something. It kind of leaves a bitter taste in my mouth. I honestly don't know what to do."

Hope kissed his chest. "I'm sure you'll make the right decision. Just wait a few days. I'm sure the answer will come to you eventually."

Aiden looked at her. "I hope so."

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

It was now Valentine's Day, and Aiden still hadn't come to a decision. Thankfully, Carol was giving him space. Well, aside from a text reminding him she needed to know his decision soon, and then today a quick text to wish him a Happy Valentine's Day and to tell him to "have fun" with Hope tonight, followed by a winky face. He had texted her back that he'd let her know his decision soon. He also wished her a Happy Valentine's Day in return, followed by a "keep it safe" warning. God only knew who she'd be hooking up with that night. Knowing his sister, she _would_ be hooking up with someone—more than likely with someone she had just met…possibly even someone she just met that night.

He sighed as he sent the text. Well, there was one thing she was right about; he definitely planned on having fun with Hope tonight.

He didn't want to do the usual thing with Hope. He wanted to make it special. So he put some thought into it. Knowing that she loved to be pampered—especially now that she was pregnant—he figured that she might enjoy a spa day. Of course, he didn't want to spend the day without Hope, and he hoped that she wouldn't want to spend the day without him either. So, he booked the spa treatments for both of them. The spa treatments included a steam shower, an aroma therapy couple's massage, a Champaign rose body scrub for two, and a manicure for her. He would be getting a European pedicure and aromatherapy foot scrub while she got her manicure. The package also included Champaign and chocolate for both of them.

After their spa day, he planned on taking her out to dinner and dancing at a new restaurant by the Lake that he had made reservations for months in advance. After _that_ , he had a surprise for her back at his place.

He had sent her two dozen red and pink tulips to her work since he knew they were her favorite. He also sent her a beautiful red dress. She was beautiful no matter what she wore, he knew, but he couldn't help but buy her dresses. Whenever he would see a dress that was beautiful enough and worthy enough to be worn by Hope, he had to buy it. He sent it to her work with the flowers and a little note that told her to save it for tonight.

She got off work early at one, so he headed over to pick her up for their spa treatments. They hadn't seen each other yet that morning. Hope had been busy with work, and he had been busy prepping for the grand opening of his law firm, which was to be at noon the next day. They hadn't even had lunch together. He had had Chinese food delivered to him, and Hope had told him when he called her earlier that she planned on picking something up at one of the fast food drive-through places.

When Hope opened the door, she was wearing jeans and a red blouse. On her feet were cream colored ankle booties.

"Happy Valentine's Day, my Love," she said with a big smile when she opened the door.

Aiden smiled as well. "Happy Valentine's Day, Beautiful."

They kissed.

Hope rested her forehead against his, and tangled her fingers in his hair. "I missed you today."

Aiden kissed her forehead, her face between his hands. "Baby, I missed you too. Mm… Believe me, you were on my mind every second of today."

They kissed some more.

Hope then nodded at Aiden. "Red is a good color on you. Plus, we match!" She grinned.

Aiden grinned as well. "I wasn't sure what I should wear to a spa, so I figured jeans and a red polo was good enough!"

She kissed him again. "It's perfect. I hardly ever get to see you in anything casual. I find it incredibly sexy." She began kissing down his neck.

He closed his eyes and softly moaned. "Remind me to dress more casually from now on. We better get going before this turns into more, and we miss our spa appointment." He looked at her. "Normally I'd say we skip the spa day and head straight to the bedroom, but there are no refunds."

Hope laughed. "All right." She smiled and winked at him. "Let's get going then."

She grabbed her purse and locked up, then they headed hand-in-hand out of the house, and off to their spa day.

 _ **~*came back to me*~**_

"This is so nice," Hope said as she rested her head against Aiden's bare shoulder. They were both clad only in towels as they sat inside the steam shower on a wooden bench.

"So, you like the spa day idea?" he asked her.

She looked up at him. "Like it? I love it! It's so thoughtful of you. Thank you, Mr. Jennings." Her eyes lowered with love for him. "I love you so much."

I looked at her with nothing but love in his eyes, and gently stroked her hair. "I love you too Hope. More than you could ever imagine."

They kissed, which led to him starting to push the towel off of her shoulders.

She paused from their kissing and smile. "Aiden, what are you doing?"

"Trying to get some sexy time in on Valentine's Day with my one day wife," he murmured, kissing down her neck.

She closed her eyes, enjoying the sensation of his kisses on her neck. "Someone could walk in on us at any time…"

Aiden ceased his kisses and looked at her. "No they won't. This is a private room. We're to come out when the timer goes off. They won't come in here before then."

"We don't know that for sure," Hope reasoned.

"Well, I'm willing to take that risk…" Aiden murmured, his hand moving over to her breast.

She wanted to badly to give into him, but she again, gently pushed him away. "They will know what we did. Besides, it's already so hot in here. I don't think all the extra heat would be good for the twins. If we make love, I can guarantee you, my body temperature is going to sky rocket!" Hope grinned. "But later, all right? I just wouldn't feel right doing anything here."

Aiden sighed. "All right." He raised an eyebrow. "But by the end of the night, you will be mine."

Hope gently stroked some hair out of his eyes. "Always."

They kissed some more, then after Hope adjusted her towel, they enjoyed the rest of their steam shower cuddling in each other's arms.

After their steam shower was their Champaign rose body scrub where they both lying on their stomachs on spa beds. The spa beds were separate, but rolled next to each other's.

A handsome hunk of a man was massaging the body scrub over Hope's naked back. She had on nothing but a towel over her butt; not including the towel she was lying on top of, of coruse.

The woman massaging the scrub into Aiden's back was pretty, but her beauty didn't compare to Hope's. She looked to be maybe slightly older than Hope.

As he watched another man, an—incredibly good looking man at that—massage his future fiancé's back, he couldn't help but get a little jealous. He barely noticed his arms, legs, and neck being massaged with the body scrub. He was too busy watching another man rub up on his woman.

"Would you like the scrub rubbed into your buttocks, Ma'am? Not everyone is comfortable with it, so we have to ask first," her masseuse whose nametag read Derek, asked her.

"Like hell!" Aiden said.

Hope, who had her eyes closed, opened her eyes and looked at him. "Aiden, relax." She then addressed Derek. "No thank you. I'm fine."

"No problem!" Derek then took out the warm towels and began to wipe off the scrub.

Aiden's masseuse, Melinda, started to do the same for him. "You didn't want your buttocks done, did you?" she asked in a tone that practically told him she didn't want to bother.

"No, he didn't," Hope answered for him as he had answered for her.

"What she said," Aiden said with a blush. He looked at Hope who gave him a knowing smirk.

Aiden was grateful that the aroma therapy massages were done by different people. He had a younger, prettier girl this time, and Hope had a man who was just as young and good looking. Their names were Sarah and Bryan. Only Sarah and Bryan informed them that they were a couple. Aiden felt relieved, knowing that Bryan wouldn't be hitting on Hope. Though, he had to admit, her moans of pleasure from Bryan's touches still made him uneasy, despite him knowing it was completely harmless. Though, he had gotten a kick out of the side glances Hope was giving him as he moaned in pleasure. He had to admit, though his massage did feel good, he mainly moaned to get Hope a little jealous. It seemed to be working. He hid a grin.

After a fifty minute massage, Aiden almost felt like sleeping. The smell of lavender and chamomile from the candles and oils they used were so relaxing, and almost enough to put him to sleep. In fact, he was pretty sure Hope fell asleep for at least part of her massage.

As for the manicures and pedicure, Hope adored getting her French manicure, but he couldn't say the same about his foot scrub and pedicure. He had never realized how ticklish he was. He was laughing during the phone foot scrubbing process.

Hope found it hysterical. He, however, just found the whole procedure torturous, and was glad when it was over. Even so, seeing Hope so happy, and hearing her beautiful laugh, made it all worthwhile to him.

They ended the spa day by enjoying some chocolates and Champaign. Of course Aiden had alerted the spa when making the reservations that Hope was pregnant. So, they had made sure to give them non-alcoholic Champaign.

"So, shall we head to our homes and get ready, then meet back up in an hour for dinner?" Hope asked him after they had finished their snack.

Aiden nodded. "Sounds like a plan!"

So, he dropped her off at her place, then went back to his place to shower and get ready. He wanted tonight to be perfect for Hope.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

"I know I said it before, but you look so beautiful tonight," Aiden murmured as he and Hope danced together on the dancefloor. She was wearing the maroon dress he had bought for her. The neckline was a mock neck turtleneck. There was a band of maroon lace with a maroon underlay around the middle her neck where the neckline began. The rest was sheer maroon lace, which covered everything from the bottom of her neck, over her collarbone, and down to right above her breasts. Even the long sleeves were made of the sheer maroon lace. There was a strip of the maroon lace and maroon underlay over her breasts with a belt of sheer maroon lace around her waist, then finally the rest of the dress was back to the maroon lace with maroon underlay. The dress stopped right at mid-thigh. She wore read strappy heels with it. Her legs were smooth and long and he wanted to take her right there on the dancefloor. However, he behaved.

"You have good taste in dresses! Thank you for it," she purred, her red lips brushing against his ear as they swayed to the music.

"You don't mind me picking out dresses for you, do you? I don't want you to feel like my paper doll or anything," Aiden said; slightly worried.

"The only time it bothered me was when you tried to blackmail me to be with you. But now…I love it. I love beautiful dresses, and I love being surprised with them by the man that I love," she said. "By the way, you're looking just as handsome tonight."

He smiled. "It's just a regular gray suit. The maroon dress shirt and the tie are the only difference from my regular work attire." His tie was white with maroon hearts.

"You're still the most handsome man on earth in my eyes," Hope replied, her eyes boring into his as she pushed some hair out of his eyes.

"And you're the most beautiful woman on earth," he told her.

They kissed, and continued to dance. Then, their food arrived and they headed back to their table.

Aiden held out her chair for her, then gently pushed her back in before sitting down across from her.

As they ate, they had a nice conversation. They talked about what they thought the twins lives would be like, and they talked about names once again. Nothing was settled upon a hundred percent, name-wise.

Aiden was grateful that Carol didn't come up once in their conversation. Tonight, he didn't want to have to think about losing or not losing a kidney.

They passed on dessert, for Aiden had assured Hope he had something special for dessert at home—besides himself of course.

So, Aiden paid the bill and left the tip, then, holding each other's hand, they left the restaurant, both eager to continue the rest of their night alone at Aiden's place.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

Hope had brought an overnight bag with her, and while she was getting ready for him in the bathroom, Aiden got ready for her.

He had already covered the floor and bed with red and white rose petals. Now, he went around the bedroom lighting the candles that he had placed all around the bedroom. Next, he went into the fridge and took out the huge plate of chocolate-covered strawberries that he had special ordered. He also took out the botte of sparkling cider he had bought and put it in a bucket. He filled the bucket with ice, then brought that into his bedroom as well. He set the plate of strawberries on one night stand, and the bucket containing the sparkling cider on the other night stand.

He went back into the kitchen and got two Champaign flutes, then put them next to the bucket, which was on the night stand on Hope's side of the bed.

Finally, he undressed and put on a pair of black silk boxers with red hearts all over them. He felt silly in them, but figured he'd be festive for Valentine's Day. After all, Hope loved all things festive.

He had made it into the bed just as Hope came out of the bathroom. She took his breath away on sight.

She was wearing a red teddy that left not much to the imagination at all. It was lacy, and extremely see through.

"You did all this for me? It's beautiful, Aiden, thank you!" she said. She noticed the strawberries. "Those look _so_ good right now."

He licked his lips. "Yeah, well, the only thing looking so good to me right now is you, so, Baby, I'm going to need you to get into bed with me right now. The strawberries can wait!"

Hope grinned. "I thought you'd never ask," she purred. She practically pounced onto the bed.

Aiden, in return, pounced on _her_. It only took seconds before he had her pinned beneath him. "Just when I thought you couldn't get any sexier, you go and get even sexier," he purred.

She ran her fingers through his hair. "I can say the same thing about you," she purred. "But, as sexy as these look on you…" She ran her hand over his boxers, causing him to moan. He really wanted her right now. Not only wanted. _Needed_.

She tugged at his waistband. "But I'm really going to need these to come off."

As much as Aiden had wanted their night to be romantic, he knew that right then, it was going to be more on the lust-filled side of things.

Within a minute, they had practically torn the other's clothes off, skipped the foreplay, and went straight for making love.

Aiden pinned her wrists to the bed, and she tightly wrapped her legs around his waist, silently begging him to get right to it.

He needed no more prodding.

They kissed passionately, their moans and heavy breathing the only sounds as they gave each other the ultimate pleasure.

They couldn't get enough of the other, and took their time until every single desire was satisfied for the both of them. They kissed afterword, still clinging tightly to the other, not wanting to let each other go.

Finally, they both lay back and happily sighed.

"Best Valentine's Day ever!" Hope said.

Aiden grinned. "I'm glad you think so."

"I'm really hungry now," Hope said. She grinned at him. "Something about making love with you always makes me hungry. It must be the workout you give me!" She kissed his lips, then took it upon herself to pour them each a glass of the sparkling cider.

He in turn, picked up the plate of strawberries. "You do the same for me," he said." He kissed her cheek. "Not that I'm complaining!"

"Me neither," she said, quickly kissing his lips before picking up a strawberry and devouring it.

For the next five minutes, they ate and drank, both filling their stomachs up until they were satisfied.

"I can't believe we almost ate that whole plate!" Hope said as Aiden set it back down on the nightstand. She licked her fingers.

Aiden smirked. "You did most of the eating."

"Hey, I'm eating for three now," she said with a pout.

"I know. I'm just teasing you." He kissed her lips then went into the bedside drawer and took out a small box. He then handed it to her. "Happy Valentine's Day," he said.

She looked at him and smirked. "It's not the ring again, is it? Because I still want to wait."

He shook his head. "Just open it."

She opened it. It was a silver heart shaped locket with a fleur de lis engraved on the front, which was her favorite symbol. "It's beautiful," she said.

Aiden nodded at it. "Open it."

She opened it, and smiled when she saw a picture of Shawn and Ciara with their arms around each other, smiling on one side, and on the other was a picture of her and Aiden kissing.

She looked up at him with tears of happiness in her eyes. "I love it. It's the perfect gift. Thank you so much!"

"Look at the back," he said with a grin.

She closed the locket. On the back was the words, _Love you forever-Aiden_

"I'll love you forever too!" she said. She pulled him into a long, passionate kiss.

"I didn't know what to get you, but there is one thing I wanted to give you that I hope you'll like." She got out of bed and dug into her purse. She then got back onto the bed and handed him a box.

He looked at her with a curious look on his face, then opened the box. It was a key that had a keychain with a label on it. The label read, _Will you move in with me?_

He grinned at her. "Really?"

She grinned and nodded. "I figure this would be a good step to take before we get married. Plus, we're together all the time anyway. And, since I'm pregnant, it would be good to have you with me at night in case anything happens. Just as a precaution."

Aiden raised an eyebrow. "Only as a precaution?

She shook her head, then pulled him closer and purred into his ear, "Also because I love you and want to be able to make love with you anytime I want."

Aiden grinned at her. "When do I move in?"

She grinned too. "As soon as possible."

He nodded toward the sparkling cider. "I say we toast to our new living situation."

Hope grabbed the bottle, and poured them each a new glass. She then set the bottle on the nightstand, and held out her glass to Aiden. "To the next step in our relationship!"

"To the next step in our relationship," he said.

They toasted, then crossed arms and drank up.

Hope then set their glasses aside, and pinned him down beneath her.

"Mm… What are you doing?" he asked when she began to kiss her way down his stomach.

She grinned a Cheshire grin back at him. "Celebrating your moving in with me," she said simply before continuing her path of kisses downward.

Aiden moaned as her lips met their goal, and he gently stroked her hair. He had a feeling he was really going to love living with Hope again. She was the love of his life, and frankly, it had been far too long…


	32. S2E7

_**This Love…**_

 _ **Season 2 Episode 7: Trouble**_

"You came!" Aiden said as Hope arrived at his ribbon cutting ceremony for the grand opening of his new law firm." He kissed her softly on the lips. "Thank you, Baby! But won't this make you late for work? I don't want you to get in trouble with Roman."

Hope shook her head. "I won't get in trouble for being just a half hour late. Roman understands that you come first to me, as do my children."

"Plus, you're taking on lighter cases anyway. Nothing major, right?" Aiden asked her.

She put on a smile, and tried her best to sound honest. "Right! The truth was, she planned on checking out a drug exchange with Shawn today. But she wasn't about to tell Aiden that!

Aiden kissed her again, and placed his hands over her stomach. "And how are our little babies doing today?"

She grinned at him. "They are doing just fine. Probably happy that their daddy is going to be moving in with us today."

Aiden grinned. "I'm going to take such good care of you two…and your mommy!" he said to her womb. He then kissed her once again, and gently stroked her hair. "I love you so much! All three of you. I didn't think it was possible to love someone you never met until Meredith was pregnant with Chase, then I realized it was. Now that love is reaffirmed now for our twins."

Hope stroked his cheek. "And we love you!" She kissed him again.

Aiden rested his forehead against hers. "Mm, as much as I would love to stand here kissing you all day, I have a speech to make!"

He then headed to the top of the stairs that lead to the door of his law firm, and he looked out at the people. "I want to thank you all for coming here today to help me celebrate the opening of my brand new law firm, Jennings and Associates. I would also like to thank my talented associates, whom I have no doubt will be very efficient and effective in winning most, if not all, of the cases that come their way. Here at Jennings and Associates, it is our number one priority to serve you to the best of our ability, and we will not rest until you get the justice you deserve!"

The crowd cheered.

"I'd also like to thank all the clients we've already accumulated before we we're even open! It warms my heart that so many of you trust me enough to be your lawyer, and that you are choosing to my law firm. Thank you to all my new clients who were referred, and thank you to all my old clients who followed me here and a special thanks to those who referred me to your friends. I promise I will not let you down."

He then motioned to his associates. "I'd now like you to meet my staff!"

One by one he pulled up his associates and introduced them to the crowd. Finally, he brought up his secretary.

Hope has been smiling through most of the speech. She was so proud of her boyfriend for starting his own firm and for hiring all these amazing associates! However, as soon as she saw Aiden's secretary, her smile quickly faded. The woman looked to be in her mid-thirties, and she was the most gorgeous woman Hope had ever seen. Her hair was long, wavy, and light blonde. Her body was a perfect hourglass figure with large, perky breasts and the perfect butt to go with them. She wore a red form-fitting Bodycon dress that emphasized all her curves. It was low-cut and went only to her mid-thighs. Her skin and makeup were flawless. Her red lips were pouty, and her eyes were blue-green. Her legs were also flawless and were long and slender.

"Finally, this is my secretary, Tiffany Smythe. She will be taking care of and organizing everything for me so that I don't go crazy from disorganization!" Aiden joked.

The crowd laughed, but Hope rolled her eyes at Tiffany's bright smile. _Tiffany! It figured the girl would have a prissy name life Tiffany!_

After Tiffany was introduced, Aiden took the pair of golden scissors handed to him by none other than Tiffany, and cut the red ribbon. "Jennings and Associates if officially opened!" he said.

Everyone cheered.

Hope walked right up to him, and kissed him hard and long, even bending him back a little. She then grinned at him, and looked over her shoulder to grin at Tiffany, who was watching them with a look of surprise on her face.

"What was that for?" Aiden asked; sounding surprised himself, and even a little out of breath.

Hope grinned at him, and ran her fingers through his hair. "I'm just so proud of you! Mm, my handsome lover." She kissed him again, which caused him to blush.

"Not that I mind being kissed by you like at all, but remember, I am officially at work, so you might want to calm down just a bit." He brushed his lips against her ear. "You're already getting to me, if you know what I mean…"

She grinned. "It's okay." She winked at him. "I have to be headed to work now anyway." She kissed him once more, though this kiss was quicker. She then turned to Tiffany. "Hello! I'm Hope, Aiden's girlfriend, lover, mother of his children to be…" She rubbed her stomach, then held out a hand to her. "It's nice to meet you."

Tiffany blushed, then shook her hand. "It's nice to meet you too, Hope. Aiden is always gushing over you."

Hope smiled over her shoulder at Aiden, then back at Tiffany. "Good to know."

"So, when are you due?" Tiffany asked her.

"In just over six months! Well, I must be off to work now. I'm a cop. I'll see you later!" Hope then took off. Her back was turned to Tiffany when she heard Tiffany call out a friendly goodbye to her, but she didn't turn back.

Hope knew she was being a little silly, and she absolutely _hated_ the word lover. It sounded so cheap and unromantic. However, she had to get the point across to Tiffany that her man was already taken, and if Tiffany ever tried to hit on Aiden, well… Hope made sure that Tiffany also knew that she was a cop. Hope was sure she could pin something on Tiffany if Tiffany ever tried something with Aiden.

Hope smirked at the thought.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

After the ceremony, Aiden spent the next three hours with clients. He was thrilled his new business was already such a hit! All his associates had been busy with cases as well. When it was finally time to take a lunch break, he was about to ask Tiffany to call and order a pizza for everyone, when Tiffany called him first.

"Hello, Tiffany. What is it?" he asked cheerily.

"Mr. Jennings, there is a lady here to see you. She claims she is your sister, and that it's important."

Aiden sighed. "Let her in. Thank you, Tiffany." He hung up the phone, already getting that sick feeling in the pit of his stomach. He didn't want to give Carol a kidney. He felt awful for feeling that way, but there it was. He felt he needed both his kidneys, and one day, Heaven forbid, Hope or the twins needed a kidney, he wanted to be able to still have one to give. Heck, he even felt her owed Shawn or Ciara a kidney over Carol. After all, Carol had never done anything selfless for him. All she ever did was cause him heartbreak.

Carol walked in, and she was draped in her black fur coat. She had on a bedazzled winter hat. "Hey! Sorry I'm late, but I was busy doing something special!" she said in a sing-song voice. She shut the door behind her, then sat down in a chair in front of his desk.

"I honestly wasn't even expecting to you to come for the ribbon cutting ceremony, so don't even worry about it. After all, you couldn't be bothered to show up at Mom and Dad's funeral, nor could you be bothered to show up for your own nephew's funeral, so why should I expect you to be at a silly little ribbon cutting?" Aiden asked her.

Carol pouted. "You're still on about that? Don't be like that, Gatorade!"

Aiden felt his ears turn red. He hadn't been called that since he was a kid, but even to this day he couldn't even drink the drink, it embarrassed him so much. "Don't call me that!" he snapped.

She laughed. "Aw, why not? I always thought it was a cute nickname."

He narrowed his eyes at her. "It was not a nickname—it was a name. Period!" He flashed back to a time he had wanted to forget, and had done a good job at forgetting…until now that is.

 _Growing up, Aiden's family hadn't been rich. In fact, some days they had to struggle just to get by. His father worked in a factory making car parts. His mother worked at a department store at night, and a diner during the mornings for the breakfast rush. Even with a combined three jobs, it was a struggle to get by. Carol had a job at the mall, but she never offered to share a dime of it with the family._

 _Anyway, everyone in school was wearing Lacoste polos. Aiden had begged his mother to buy him once, but they never had the money. However, one day, his mother came home with a surprise. She informed him that she bought one from a street vender for a much discounted price._

 _Aiden was so excited! He put his new green Lacoste polo on and paired it with some jeans and his best pair of dress shoes that he was usually only allowed to wear to church. His mother decided to be nice and let him wear them to school that day since she knew how excited he was to dress nicely._

 _He headed to school, so excited to show off his new shirt._

 _It worked for a while. He got compliments on it, and girls smiled at him. Heck, girls who never talked to him before were suddenly talking to him! His ten-old self was ecstatic! That was, until it was lunchtime._

 _It was a nice day, so they were allowed to eat lunch outside. As Aiden sat down to eat, Trevor Hanson walked over to him. Trevor was a nasty little brat who loved to pick on anyone that got in his way unless they were a crony of Trevor's, which Aiden certainly was not._

 _Aiden tried his best to avoid eye contact, but Trevor got to him anyway… "Is that a Lacoste shirt, Aiden?" he asked._

 _Aiden nodded, and dared to look up. "I just got it yesterday."_

" _Hm… I thought you couldn't afford one," Trevor said snottily._

" _My mother found one at a discount price!" Aiden said, though he almost regretted admitting that. He wasn't sure if that made him uncool or not._

" _Let me see that…" Trevor leaned in closer and examined the shirt. He then laughed, and stood straight again. "Hey, everybody! Aiden's trying to pawn off a knockoff as a real Lacoste shirt!" he called out._

 _Everyone looked over at Aiden._

" _I am not! My mom bought me it! It's real! She wouldn't buy me a fake!" Aiden defended. Even as young as ten, he didn't like anyone talking bad about either one of his parents._

" _Look at it! That's not even a crocodile! It's an alligator!" Trevor said loudly. He then leaned forward, and before Aiden could stop him, he ripped the alligator off his shirt. "And it's cheap too! It's more like a sticker than something stitched on!" Trevor said, holding up the fake crocodile for all to see._

 _The whole class started laughing at Aiden then._

" _You know what you are?" Trevor asked Aiden._

 _Aiden didn't reply. He was too busy holding in the tears._

" _You're 'Gatorade!'" Trevor laughed. "Get it? You're wearing a gator instead of a crocodile and your name begins with Aid!"_

 _Everyone started laughing even harder then._

 _People kept calling him Gatorade, and if that wasn't horrible enough, one kid even came over and pretended to "accidentally" spill his Gatorade all over the front of Aiden's pants._

 _He ran to the nurse's station as everyone behind him continued to laugh until he was out of earshot. The nurse thought he had peed his pants. He was too embarrassed to correct her. He just told her he was sick and wanted to go home._

 _The nurse had called his mother, and she had picked him up from school. She had felt absolutely horrible for being duped, and let him have ice cream for dinner to make up for it. Still, it could never make up for the embarrassment he had felt. He had gotten called Gatorade until high school since most of his classmates had followed him into junior high. Looking back on it, he had plenty of ammunition on Trevor that he could have used. After all, Trevor was two years older than he was, but had failed two times prior, which is why he was still in Aiden's grade. Aiden guessed he had been afraid Trevor would make his life even more of a living hell if he tried to use that as ammo._

 _Carol had found the whole ordeal hilarious and had called him Gatorade for years after the incident. Then she moved out and was too caught up in herself to call him anything anymore._

Aiden narrowed his eyes at Carol. "What do you want?" he asked coldly.

"Carol shot him a look. "You know, you could be a little nicer to me seeing as I just bought you your dream building for your new law firm."

Aiden looked at her in surprise. "Excuse me?"

Carol grinned. "You know that three-story building you loved that had the glassed-in roof as the third story? We saw it the other day."

Aiden nodded. "I remember. What do you mean you bought it?"

Carol shrugged. "Exactly what I said! I looked around, and it is in perfect shape for a law firm. The agent told me it is already up to code. All you need is to sign your name on the deed. It's already paid for. You probably also have to get the licenses and permits to have your business be there. I'm not as up to date with all that legal jargon as you are, but we have a meeting with the agent tomorrow about it. And don't worry, it's after your work hours." She smiled and winked at him. "You're welcome!"

Aiden looked at her in disbelief, literally at a loss for words. As she usually did, his sister had left him speechless.

 _ **~*came back to me*~**_

Meanwhile, Hope and Shawn were on a stakeout. There had been an anonymous tip that there was illegal drug dealing going on in the alley way between The Dollar General and the Laundromat in the more seedy part of town. However, so far they didn't see any unusual activity.

"I don't understand. "Our source said the exchange goes down here every day around this time," Shawn said.

"You know these dealers. A lot of times they can be up to three hours late. It's just a tactic to avoid getting caught. Though, I have to wonder if the dealer got wind of someone alerting the cops," Hope said, checking her phone.

"Either that or our source is lying," Shawn said.

Hope put her phone away. "But why would he lie?"

"Look!" Shawn said.

Hope looked to wear he was pointing, and sure enough, they saw a man who looked maybe in his early twenties dressed In baggy jeans, Air Jordans, and a Slipknot t-shirt walking into the alleyway. No more than thirty seconds later, a man who looked to be in his early thirties with greasy looking hair, a red and black plaid shirt, dirty ripped jeans, and even dirtier sneakers came out of nowhere and headed into the alleyway.

"This could be it…" Shawn said. They were in an unmarked car, but they needed to get out to get a better look.

"Be careful. You never know what drug dealers are capable of," Hope said.

Shawn nodded. "I know, Mom. You may have been on the force a lot longer than me, but I know what I'm doing."

"I'm sorry. I just want to make sure we're on the same page," Hope said. "I'm worried since we're not going to have the usual backup or someone waiting by in a truck, listening in."

"Only because we didn't get the tip in time to set any of that up. If we can catch it going down, then we won't need to go to all the trouble," Shawn whispered.

"Just be careful," Hope said, making sure her gun was ready. She watched as Shawn got his gun ready as well.

They then crept by the dollar general, and got just close enough to hear what was going down.

"This better be good quality."

"Don't insult me like that! I _always_ bring the best quality. If you're going to suggest otherwise, then you can get the hell out of here now and find another dealer. But I guarantee you, you aint gonna find this kind of quality at this price with anyone else."

"All right. I'm sorry."

Shawn peered around the corner and witnessed the exchange. He then jumped into the alleyway. "Freeze! You're under arrest!"

Hope wouldn't have jumped out just yet, but she knew that now that Shawn was in plain sight, she had no choice.

She stepped beside Shawn, ready to take down anyone who ran. "Put your hands where we can see them!" she snapped.

Suddenly, the dealer grabbed the buyer and pushed him in front of his body like a shield. "You aint shooting me without going through him, lady!"

Shawn stepped forward.

The buyer looked scared. "Please don't shoot! I'm an addict! I can't help myself! Please, I have a newborn at home. Please don't leave him fatherless! I've just been really stressed out lately!"

Suddenly, the dealer whipped out a gun before Hope or Shawn saw it coming. Apparently, he had had it hidden under his plaid shirt in his back pocket. He aimed the gun at Shawn. "Looks like I'm going to have to do what I have to do to get us both out of this mess, huh?" he asked, what Hope guessed was the buyer.

Hope panicked when she saw that he had the gun pointed at Shawn.

"Shawn, lookout!" she said as the dealer cocked his gun.

She pushed Shawn out of the way in a flash.

Then, a gunshot went off.

"Mom!" Shawn screamed.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

"I saw how big your eyes got when you saw that building. So, the day after, I went in and explored. It is perfect for your law firm! It's even more beautiful on the inside. I called the agent, and paid for it, like I said. Surprisingly, there were no other offers. I gave fifteen percent more than what they were asking, so that sealed the deal," Carol explained.

Aiden did his best to remain calm. "Carol, I just put a lot of work, money, and time into this office that just opened. I don't need a new office."

"Please! This place looks like a dump compared to that other building! It's so much bigger, and you can expand at the other place. It's even at a better location. And wait until you see the view from the roof room. I went up with the agent at night, and it is beautiful!" Carol said.

"Well, thanks, but no thanks. I don't want it!" Aiden grumbled.

"Aiden, don't be ridiculous. The sale was final. I'll just be stuck with the building if you don't take it," Carol replied.

"Well, you should have thought about asking me first before you bought it!" Aiden snapped.

"Aiden, I'm trying to do something nice for you. Why are you being like this?" Carol asked, sounding hurt.

"Because I know you're doing this just because you want my kidney. Well, guess what, Carol? I'm not giving you my kidney, so sorry, your little bribe didn't work! You were never a sister to me when it counted. The only time you ever do something for me is when it will benefit you somehow. I needed you as a kid, and all you did was make fun of me! Then you left home and barely visited. Mom was heartbroken because she was convinced you cared more about all your men and all your alcohol than you did her. I think she was right. After all, you couldn't even be bothered to come to your own parents' funeral! You were too busy off having fun with your new flavor of the week! Well, let me tell you, I'd much rather save my kidney for someone who actually deserves it!"

Carol actually had tears in her eyes. "Don't pretend like you know what was going on with me, Aiden, because you have no idea!"

Aiden stopped feeling so angry, and started to cool off a little. He had never seen his sister cry before. "What is _that_ supposed to mean?"

Before Carol could respond, his cell phone rang. It was Shawn.

He picked up the phone. "Hey, Shawn. I'm surprised to hear from you. What's up?" It didn't even strike him that Hope could be hurt. It wasn't even a thought in his mind.

"Aiden, you need to get down to the hospital now. Mom's been shot."

Aiden dropped the phone; in shock.

"What's wrong?" Carol asked, seeing her brother turn pale.

"Hope's been shot. I need to get to the hospital!" He started to run out of his office.

"Let me drive you! It's not safe for you to drive when you're worried!" Carol said, running after him.

"Mr. Jennings, what's wrong?" Tiffany asked.

"My girlfriend's been shot. Can you please take care of things for me while I'm gone? I'll be back later, but I'm not sure when," Aiden said absentmindedly.

"Of course! Tell her I'm praying for her!" Tiffany called out.

But Aiden and Carol had already left.


	33. S2E8

_**This Love…**_

 _ **Season 2 Episode 8: Parents Just Don't Understand**_

"Where is she? Where's your mother?" Aiden asked when he rushed into the hospital's lobby.

"Relax, Aiden. She's fine. It was just a graze to the shoulder. For a drug dealer, the guy sure is a crap shot!" Shawn said.

Aiden was overwhelmed with a plethora of feelings. First came relief of course. Then came annoyance. "Why didn't you tell me on the phone it wasn't serious? Do you know how worried out of my mind I was on the way here?" he asked Shawn.

Shawn shrugged. "I tried to tell you, but apparently, you dropped your phone. I heard a crash, then you stopped replying to me, so I figured that's what happened." He smirked. "Talk about a dropped call!" He laughed.

"How can you laugh when your mother's been shot?" Aiden asked, the annoyance not quite ready to leave yet.

Shawn rolled his eyes. "Like I told you, the bullet just grazed her. It's not a big deal. She's going to be fine."

"You sounded so worried when you called me!" Aiden said.

Shawn shrugged. "Well, just grazed or not, my mother being shot did still worry me. I thought you'd be grateful I called you down here. I could have just let you wait to find out until mom was out of the hospital. And let me tell you, snapping at me as if you're my father is not making me feel like warming up to you right now."

Aiden calmed himself down a bit. "I'm sorry. I was just really worried. Thank you for calling me, and I am sorry I snapped at you."

Shawn's expression softened. "It's okay. She's right over there." He pointed to his mother's room. "She doesn't know I called you."

Suspicion then became the dominant feeling for Aiden. "How was your mother on a drug bust when she is supposed to be doing parking tickets and paperwork?"

Shawn nervously ran a hand through his hair. "That's something you're going to have to ask her." He then turned to Carol and smiled. "Hey, Carol. How are you?"

Carol, always one to soak up attention, fluffed her hair. "Hello, Shawn! I'm doing all right. How about yourself?"

Aiden headed into Hope's room, not waiting for Shawn's response.

He walked into the room, and rushed over to her. "You had me so worried! Or Shawn did, rather. I dropped the phone when he told me you had been shot. I didn't get to hear the part that you had only been shot in the shoulder." He took her hand and kissed it. "Are you okay? Are the babies okay? What were you doing at a drug bust?"

Hope sighed. "I told Shawn not to call you."

"Well, I'm glad he did. Now please answer my questions," Aiden said.

Hope smirked. "Spoken like a true lawyer. I'm fine other than a little sore from the gun shot. It just grazed me. Kayla treated it and bandaged it. It barely broke the skin. I have a little bit of a burn, but nothing I won't recover from. As for the babies, nothing hit my stomach. I'm fine."

"And the last answer?" Aiden asked, crossing his arms over his chest and raising an eyebrow at her; giving her a taste of her own medicine.

"I was a on a drug bust with Shawn. He's my new partner now," Hope said simply.

"And what about the traffic tickets and paperwork you were supposed to be doing instead?" Aiden asked her.

Hope shrugged. "I'm sorry, Aiden, but you know me better than that. I've never been the kind of woman to sit idly. I need to work. I need to be active. Filing paperwork and handing out tickets just isn't going to cut it for me. I'm not a beat cop anymore, and I never intend on going back to being one."

"Do you know how much danger you put not only yourself in, but also our twins?" Aiden asked.

Hope sighed. "Kayla already gave me the lecture, so you can spare me yours."

Aiden sat down at the end of her bed. "What happened?"

"Shawn and I got a lead on a drug bust that was going down. We didn't think it was that elaborate of a deal, and we were right there. We figured that between the two of us, we would handle it. Unfortunately, we didn't know the dealer had a gun on him. He went to shoot Shawn, and out of instinct, I pushed Shawn out of the way."

"Why didn't you shoot first?" Aiden asked.

"He had taken the buyer as a hostage," Hope said simply.

"Why did you have to jump in front of the bullet?" Aiden asked.

"Technically, I was jumping to push Shawn out of harm's way. The dealer didn't shoot until I was pushing Shawn away. Besides, it was an automatic response. Shawn is my son, Aiden, in case you've forgotten." Hope narrowed her eyes at him.

"I know, but you also have three more children, two of which who are in that stomach of yours—babies that you're supposed to protect!" Aiden reminded her.

"I had to think fast. I'm not going to apologize for preventing my son from being shot," Hope said, still glaring at him.

"Well, you wouldn't have been in the predicament if you had just listened to Kayla and me to begin with!" Aiden said.

"For once, I have to agree with Aiden," Kayla said, coming into the room just then. She checked on Hope's bandages. "I know Shawn is your son, but he is also a cop, trained to protect himself. Your twins only have you to protect them. You need to remember that."

"Well, neither of you have to worry. Roman put me on a mandatory leave of absence. I guess I should just be grateful that he came back. If Raines was still the commissioner, he'd probably have taken the incident as an excuse to fire me all together." Hope rolled her eyes.

"It's a good thing we live together now. I can make sure you are behaving and not putting yourself or our babies in danger anymore." Aiden said, taking her hand and kissing it again.

"Aiden, I'm not five. You don't need to treat me like a child. Believe me, I learned my lesson. As much as it pains me to not work, I guess I have no choice now," Hope replied.

Aiden nodded. "You're right. You don't."

"Well, the bleeding seems to have finally stopped. Just let me change your bandage, then you are free to leave," Kaya said.

Hope nodded. "Thank you."

"I'm going to go check on Shawn and make sure that Carol isn't being annoying. She brought me over here when I was too worried to drive," Aiden said to Hope.

Hope nodded. "All right." She smiled.

"I'll be right back," Aiden said before leaving.

"Who's Carol?" Kayla asked as she began to change the bandages.

"She's Aiden's estranged older sister. She wants him to give her one of his kidneys," Hope explained. "I don't think he is too keen on giving her one though. They never got along very well, according to Aiden."

"Huh. Interesting… So, you guys are living together now, huh?" Kayla asked, sounding a little skeptical about the situation.

Hope shot her a look. "Kayla, he is the father of my children, and I love him more than you could possibly know. It's not like we're getting engaged. We're just testing the waters again to make sure we do things right this time around. Please spare me another lecture. All right?"

Kayla finished changing the bandages. She ditched the old ones, then held up her hands in defense. "I didn't say anything. I'm actually glad you'll have someone staying with you. You obviously can't be trusted." She winked and grinned at Hope to show she was only joking.

Hope rolled her eyes. "Ha, ha," she said sarcastically. "Very funny!"

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

Carol, much to Aiden's dismay, had a date with Andre, so she had headed home. She had already been gone by the time he had gotten back to the lobby. She had asked Shawn to bring him home.

So, after Hope was able to sign out, Shawn took Aiden and Hope back to Aiden's law firm so that Aiden could pick up his car and take Hope home.

Shawn still had to work, so after making sure his mother was all right, Shawn left for work.

Aiden took the rest of the day off to take care of Hope.

"It's just a graze. You can go back to work. I'll be fine. I'm just going to lie in bed and watch the _Desperate Housewives_ marathon," Hope assured him as she lay down on the bed.

Aiden sat down beside her. "My associates are there to take on any cases. My work comes second to you. Tiffany can always reschedule any of my appointments," Aiden assured her.

At the mention of Tiffany, Hope suddenly had a change of heart. "Come to think of it, I guess it would be nice to have you here with me. After all, it's our first night together in this house since it became yours too." She grinned, and pulled him down next to her on the bed. She then began kissing his neck and up his jaw.

He moaned, then gently pushed her away. "I don't want you hurting your shoulder. This is going to have to wait until you're fully healed, as much as it pains me to say it."

"I took some pain meds before I left the hospital." She grinned. "The good kind. I'll be fine." She tried to kiss him again, but he gently pushed her away again. "Baby, please. I won't be able to enjoy myself knowing that I could be hurting you."

Hope bit her bottom lip. "Don't you find me attractive anymore?"

Aiden scrunched his eyebrows in confusion. "What kind of question is that? Baby, I find you the sexiest woman on earth! No other woman could ever dream of comparing to you. I just don't want to hurt you." He kissed her softly on the lips, then brushed some hair out of her eyes and smiled at her. "I'm prepping for becoming your husband one day. I need to look out for your best interest." He grinned. "And our babies' best interest too of course!" He gently rubbed her stomach.

Hope placed her hands over his and smiled at him. "I love you."

"And I love you…so much, Baby…" His eyes lowered with love for her, and he gently took her face in his hands and lovingly kissed her.

She tried to pull him on top of her with her good arm, but Aiden pulled away. "Nice try!" He smirked. "Are you hungry?"

She pouted. "You can't blame me for trying. And yes, now that you mentioned it. "Can you make me some chocolate ice cream with bacon?" She batted her eyelashes at him. "Pretty please?"

He made a face. "The cravings are finally kicking in?"

Hope shook her head. "No. I just like combining two of my favorite things! You should try it! It's so good." She grinned.

Aiden didn't know if she was just messing with his head or what, so he just headed down to the kitchen after mumbling, "I'll go get it."

 _ **~*came back to me*~**_

Hope was smiling when Aiden came back up to the bedroom with her bacon chocolate ice cream. He sat down beside her, and handed her a bowl. "You must really be craving this ice cream!" he teased, in reference to her big smile.

She laughed. "I'm not smiling about that!" She playfully swatted him with her uninjured arm. "Though I do appreciate you making this for me. You chopped up the bacon pieces to just the right size." She quickly kissed his lips.

Aiden grinned. "I know what you like."

"You do, and yet you won't give it to me…" Hope murmured, her hand trailing her hand from his stomach to his waist to lower yet.

He moaned, then took her hand and gently placed it on her lap. "When you're better," he said.

Hope rolled her eyes.

"What made that beautiful smile of yours come out?" He kissed her cheek. "Tell me." He took a bite of his plain chocolate ice cream.

"Ciara just called me while you were downstairs. She is coming down next week to introduce her new boyfriend to us," Hope replied. "I'm so glad she's finally found someone who makes her happy!"

"Does she know we live together, or should I get a room at The Salem Inn?" Aiden asked.

"She knows. I told her. She says it's fine. She'll even be staying with us this time! I think this new guy has softened her." Hope grinned.

"Well, that's great! I'm happy for her. What's the guy's name?" Aiden asked.

"Skyler. I bet he's brainy like she is," Hope said. "It sounds like a brainy name, doesn't it?"

Aiden smirked. "It sounds like a nerd's name to me!"

Hope playfully swatted him again. "Oh, stop! I can hardly wait to meet him. My baby deserves to be happy." She took a bit of her ice cream and closed her eyes. "Mm! So good."

Aiden made a face. "I still think bacon and ice cream are gross together."

"Don't knock it till you try it! Here." She held out a spoonful of the chocolate ice cream loaded with bacon pieces.

"I'm good, thank you." Aiden said. He took a bit of his own ice cream. "Mm! It tastes just fine without the bacon."

"Eat it!" Hope shoved the spoonful of bacon ice cream into his mouth once he had swallowed the bite of his own ice cream.

He cried out in surprise, but then let out an, "Mm." He looked at her. "Okay, you're right. That actually tastes really good! Who would have thought?"

Hope grinned. "See? Why not combine our two favorite things?"

"We should add some coffee ice cream to it next time," he replied. Then we'd have _three_ of our favorite things combined!"

Hope's eyes widened. "Why did you have to mention coffee ice cream? Now I'm really craving some and we don't have any!"

"Mm… I'll be right back. I'll go to the store and buy some," Aiden said, stroking her hair and kissing her forehead.

"You don't have to go out now. You can finish your ice cream first," Hope said. "Heck, you don't even have to go out at all. I don't want to be one of those demanding girlfriends."

"I don't mind. Really. Whatever my baby wants, my baby gets!" He gently rubbed her stomach and spoke to it. "And that includes my little babies too."

Hope smiled. "Finish your ice cream first at least."

Aiden took his spoon and dipped it into her bowl. "How about I finish yours instead?"

She playfully pushed him. "Get your own! It's your own fault that you didn't trust me about bacon being good in ice cream!"

"Come on. Just one more bite!" Aiden pouted. He took another bite. He then looked towards the door, his eyes wide. "Carol, what the heck are you doing here?"

Hope looked to the doorway in surprise, and Aiden took the opportunity to sneak another bite of her ice cream.

Hope caught on as soon as she saw no one was standing in the doorway. "Aiden, stop it!" She laughed. "You do realize you're not only taking from me, but from our babies too, don't you?"

"All right, all right, I'm sorry." He kissed her lips. "I'll buy more bacon while I'm out too."

She grinned. "Good idea."

They quickly finished their ice creams, then Hope turned on the _Desperate Housewives_ marathon. Then, after a quick kiss goodbye, Aiden went to get Hope her coffee ice cream and bacon.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

It was now a week later, the second Tuesday of March, and the day Ciara was to arrive home with her new boyfriend.

Hope was so excited, making sure the house was clean, and that Ciara's bedroom had clean linens. She had made up the guest bedroom for Ciara's boyfriend. She knew Ciara was an adult, but she still didn't like the idea of her baby sharing a room, much less a bed, with her boyfriend.

Shawn was picking Ciara and Skylar up at the airport, and Hope was just thrilled that they were all going to then go have a nice dinner together.

"I'm glad your arm is all better. It's just too bad Ciara and her boyfriend will be here…" Aiden said, grabbing Hope from behind and kissing up her neck. "A week without making love to you is far too long…"

Hope placed her hands over his hands and smiled. "Maybe if we're really quiet…"

He turned her around and looked her in the eyes. "I don't know if it's possible to be quiet with you," he teased.

She grinned. "Back at ya!"

They kissed.

Just then, the door opened and quickly shut, causing them both to look to the doorway.

Shawn was standing there. "I have to warn you about something quick. It's about Ciara's—"

Before he could finish what he was saying, Ciara came in. "Thanks a lot for leaving us alone with our bags, Shawn. Do you think you could come out and help us carry them in?"

Shawn nodded. "Sorry." He looked nervously at Hope.

Suddenly, a girl with spiky brunette hair and blue and purple steaks stepped in the doorway. She was wearing baggy black jeans, a spiked belt, the matching spiked bracelet, and an Indigo Girls band tee-shirt. She had a lot of bags in her arms. "It's okay. I got most of them. Where should I set them?"

"Right by the door is fine for now," Ciara said.

The girl set her bags down.

"Ciara, who is your friend?" Hope asked, smiling nervously.

Ciara grinned, and linked her arm with the girl's. "Mom, Aiden, I'd like you to meet Skyler….my girlfriend." She smiled up at Skyler, who was smiling down at her.

Aiden looked at Hope, who was looking at Shawn, who was giving her an apologetic look and a shrug. Hope then looked at Aiden, who smiled weakly at her. She smiled weakly back at him. She then looked at Ciara ad Skyler, and her smile suddenly faded.


	34. S2E9

_**This Love…**_

 _ **Season 2 Episode 9: Bitch**_

"Mom? Hello, this is the part where you greet my new girlfriend," Ciara said, snapping Hope out of her thoughts.

Skylar took the initiative, and walked over to her, extending her hand. "Hello, Hope. It's a pleasure to finally meet you! Ciara has told me so much about you. You seem like such an amazing and caring mother!"

Hope looked at Skylar's hand and shook it, but only halfheartedly. "I would prefer you to all me Miss Brady," she said.

"Mom!" Ciara scolded.

Skylar blushed. "I'm sorry. I meant no disrespect. I wasn't sure what to call you—Williams, Brady, Jennings, or Hernandez."

Aiden grinned. "Jennings sounds good to me!"

Ciara rolled her eyes. "She's not married to you anymore and therefore, she's not a Jennings anymore either."

"Not yet," Aiden said with a smile and a wink. At this point, he really didn't care if he ticked her off. He was tired of her attitude to him when he was only trying to be nice and welcoming.

"Well, I'm not a Hernandez anymore—as you know, we divorced. Williams makes me sound like my father's wife. I'm not remarried to Aiden, so Jennings doesn't work either…" Hope smiled at Aiden. "Yet." She looked at Skylar again. "So, Brady will do. Bo may be gone, but a part of my heart will always be his. "Miss. Brady it is."

Aiden chuckled. "You rhymed." It did hurt him a little, hearing her say a part of her heart would always be with Bo, but on the other hand, he knew it was true. He had to respect that. Since Hope had known Bo first, he couldn't really be too upset about it. After all, their love had lasted over thirty years. He didn't expect their love to ever fully disappear. Besides, Bo was gone. He was no longer a threat. Aiden was just happy to have heard her say that she and Rafe were divorced, and that she wasn't a Hernandez anymore. It made his day, actually.

Hope smirked at his joke, but only for a split second. She was looking at Skylar as if Skylar had just told her that Bo was a loser.

"Miss Brady it is!" Skylar said with a friendly smile.

"So, is anyone up for pizza?" Shawn asked, eager to break the ice.

"How about we go somewhere nicer as a welcome to Skylar?" Aiden suggested. He wanted to get on Ciara's good side, and he knew that being nice to her girlfriend would be a good in. Besides, he kind of felt bad for the girl with the cold way Hope was treating her. "How do you feel about The Olive Garden? Or anywhere else you'd like is fine."

Skylar grinned big. "The Olive Garden is my favorite restaurant!"

Ciara smiled too, and latched onto her arm. "Then The Olive Garden it is!"

"I hope you have money," Hope said to Skylar. "I'm not paying the bill for someone I just met."

Ciara gasped. "Mother! What is wrong with you? Why are you being so rude?"

"Don't worry about it! Dinner's on me. I'm doing well at my new law firm. I'd be happy to treat you all," Aiden said quickly before a fight arose. He didn't know what was wrong with Hope. She would normally never be this rude to any of Ciara's friends—especially not a love interest. He knew it couldn't be a homophobic thing. After all, she had been very supportive of Will and Sonny.

"Sky has plenty of money, thank you! She never makes anyone pay for her. In fact, she's always treating _me_!" Ciara said coldly to Hope.

"That was very nice of Aiden to offer to treat us all. What do you say we go eat now? I'm starved!" Shawn said, also trying to prevent a fight.

Hope sighed. "I'm sorry. I guess I's just the hormones kicking in. My apologies for being rude, Skylar." She hugged a surprised looking Skylar. "Welcome to my home."

Ciara calmed down a bit.

Skylar smiled. "Thank you. And don't even worry about it. My mom got super cranky when she was pregnant with my little brother. You're pregnant with twins, so you're entitled to be doubly cranky!" She laughed at her own joke.

Hope put on a smile, but it only lasted for a couple of seconds.

Aiden knew that smile. It was not a sincere smile. It was her "I'm doing everything I my power not to blow a gasket" smile.

Aiden grabbed Hope's coat and helped her put it on. "Let's get going, shall we? I'm starved!"

"Good idea!" Shawn said with a nod, who also knew that smile.

They then all left for the restaurant. Aiden hoped that Hope would soften up once she had some food in her.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

"So, Skylar," Hope said as they waited for their food to arrive, "tell me a little about yourself. How did you and my daughter meet?"

Aiden was glad Hope was being a little nicer now.

"Well, Ciara and I met in veterinary school of course. Our love for animals bonded us. We all went out as a group for drinks after school one night. We played some drinking games, then ended up getting drunk and getting it on back at my place, if you know what I mean." Skylar winked and grinned.

Ciara grinned too. "It's was a wild night!"

Skylar nodded. "After that night, I knew I had to have this woman in my life for more than just that night!" She placed an arm around Ciara's neck in what was meant to be a side hug, but resembled a choke hold.

Shawn choked on his soda.

Aiden looked to Hope. He knew this wasn't going to be good. Her face had the same look on it that Madea's had when Madea was about to attack whomever it was that had ticked her off. _Definitely_ not good…

Hope griped her napkin tightly, but thankfully, before she could snap, Skylar burst into laughter.

"I'm messing with you, Miss Brady! We did meet in veterinary school, but we bonded because, unlike the rest of our class, we don't like to go out partying. I like an occasional drink, but getting drunk is not cool, nor is it good for the body. We chose to go to dinner and an Indigo Girls concert instead. We got along really well, and realized over dinner that we really liked each other's company. We make each other laugh," Skylar replied.

Hope raised an eyebrow. "The Indigo Girls?" She looked at Ciara. "I'm surprised you even know who they are!"

Ciara shrugged. "I didn't, but Skylar introduced me to them. Well, not actually introduced me to the band, but you know what I mean. They're really good!"

"If you're into that sort of thing," Hope mumbled as she took a sip of her water.

Ciara scrunched her eyebrows together. "Into what sort of thing, Mom?"

Hope smiled a fake smile. "I mean the whole folk rock thing. I'm more of a pop rock girl myself. Why? What did you think I meant?" Her voice was dripping with fake kindness.

"So, what do you have in common?" Shawn asked, sensing the conversation needed to move on quickly. "What attracted you to each other?"

"Actually, we don't have much in common other than our love for animals. At least, we didn't. For instance, I love horror movies, and Sky loves indie films. I never thought I'd like indie films, but she really got me into them," Ciara explained.

"Among other things," Hope mumbled.

"What, Mom?" Ciara asked.

Hope cleared her throat. "Nothing." She smiled, then sipped her lemonade.

Skylar nodded. "In turn, she got me really loving horror movies. Oh and I love tattoos. Ciara was never one for tattoos, but she really likes mine."

Ciara nodded too. "Skylar made me see how tattoos are just another form of art. If done properly, and put in the right place, they can be really beautiful. I was actually thinking of getting my Siamese cats tattooed on my fingers—you know, start off small. I can get one on my index finger and one on my middle finger to represent my first pets, as well as my love for animals."

Hope laughed. "That's cute, bur you're not getting a tattoo, let alone two."

Ciara smirked. "Mom, I love you and all, and no offense or disrespect meant, but I'm going on twenty-one. I don't need your permission to get a tattoo if I want one…or two."

"Ciara, trust me, you're letting someone else's opinion sway you. Once you're no longer with Skylar, you're going to regret ever getting a tattoo. Remember, taking them off is even more painful than getting them put on." Hope sipped her blackberry lemonade again.

Ciara narrowed her eyes at her mother. "First off, who said Skylar and I are going to break up? We're very happy together. Second, I don't let other people influence me. Skylar may have shown me the beauty of tattoos, but she never once told me to get one. I'm a grown woman now, and I make my own decisions."

Skylar nodded. "I don't care if your daughter has a tattoo or not! I love her either way."

Ciara smiled big at Skylar. "You love me?"

Skylar nodded. "I do. I really do!"

Ciara got tears on happiness in her eyes. "I love you too!" She kissed Skylar softly on the lips.

They both jumped when they heard a glass slamming down hard on the table.

They looked to see Hope glaring at them, her fingers squeezing her glass so hard, they were turning blue.

"Hope, Honey, let go of the glass. You're squeezing so hard I'm afraid you'll break it," Aiden said calmly. He gently removed her hand from the glass, then kissed it. "I can't have you cutting up your beautiful hand."

"Please excuse me," Hope said calmly, her eyes still on Ciara and Skylar. "I have to go to the bathroom." She then got up and left.

Aiden sighed. "I'm sorry about her behavior tonight. I wouldn't take it personal. It's just hormones," he gently reassured, though he was beginning to think that it ran much deeper than that.

Ciara shook her head. "No, it's homophobia. That's what it is."

"I'm sure it's not that," Aiden lied.

Shawn nodded. "Aiden's right. I mean, she had no problem when Will and Sonny got married."

"She's just a little stressed right now between carrying the babies, and not being able to work. It kills her to not be able to work. I think that is part of what it making her irritable. Besides the hormones," Aiden explained.

Again, Shawn nodded. "I'm sure you're right."

But Ciara didn't look so sure.

Their food arrived then, and Hope came back shortly after.

"So sorry about that!" she said quietly with a smile. "Mm… This food looks good."

They all dug into their food then.

Aiden hoped that was the end of the awkward conversation.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

Thankfully, their meal was pleasant enough. It mainly consisted of Skylar and Ciara telling funny stories from both college and their internship at the animal hospital.

"So, with animals, they don't have the doctor patient confidentiality thing going for them like humans do?" Aiden joked.

Skylar choked on her soda from laughing, and even Ciara cracked a smile.

"I know, right? There's no privacy for animals anymore!" Skylar teased back.

"You're allowed to tell other humans about it—just not other animals," Ciara joked.

They all laughed, except for Hope, who just smiled politely.

Aiden gently rubbed her back. "Are you all right?"

Hope nodded, and put on a big grin, which he knew was fake. "I'm fine! I'm just letting my food settle a bit." She gently rubbed her stomach. "I think I want to order that white chocolate raspberry cheesecake. That sounds good."

"Too bad they don't have bacon here," Aiden teased.

Hope licked her lips. "Or scrambled eggs."

Aiden scrunched his nose. "To go with the cheesecake?"

Hope nodded. "To put on top of it!"

"Gross, Mom!" Shawn said. "Not that bacon and cheesecake would be any better."

"Well, it's just like mixing cheese in with scrambled eggs. It might not be that bad," Skylar said.

"Scrambled eggs on top of cheesecake is so not the same at all! So gross!" Ciara said.

"Thank you, Skylar. Yes I don't see much difference," Hope said, surprisingly being nice to Skylar now. She rubbed her stomach. "I hope this craving means that my babies will be egg eaters. They'll need the protein!"

"So, are you going to find out what you're having soon, or would you rather wait until they are born?" Skylar asked her and Aiden.

"There's no way I can wait to find out what we're having until they are born!" Aiden said. He grinned. "I'm too eager. We can find out next month. I can hardly wait!"

Hope smiled at Aiden, her hands on her stomach again. She then addressed Skylar. "I think it would be fun to have a gender reveal party. Maybe a box filled with either all blue balloons, all pink balloons, or a mixture of both for one of each."

"I like that idea! I can fly out for the weekend and help with the party!" Ciara said.

"I'd love to help! I love planning parties! In fact, I used to plan parties all the time. I had my own side business before school started taking up most of my time," Skylar chimed in.

"Really? I didn't know that? So cool! Yes, you can definitely come down and help," Ciara said with a grin. She clapped her hands. "Oh my gosh, this will be so much fun!" She looked at Hope. "When should we plan the party for, Mom?"

Hope's expression looked a little sour again. Aiden was guessing it was because Skylar was now going to be involved. However, she cleared her throat, and put on her fake smile again. "Sometime mid-April. I'd say sometime during the second week."

"We'll get right on planning it. Just have the doctor put the genders in an envelope, then give the envelope to Shawn for safe keeping. No peaking!" Ciara said to Hope.

Hope nodded. "I'll make my appointment for the second Friday in April. Maybe we can have the party on Saturday."

"We have weekends off, so we can both be there!" Skylar said.

Hope smiled weakly. "Awesome!" Though Aiden could tell by her tone that she didn't find it 'awesome' at all.

 _ **~*came back to me*~**_

When they arrived back at Hope's, Ciara was ready to settle in for the night. They had had a late dinner to begin with, then they had all gone to see a movie at the theater.

"Come on, Sky. I'll show you to our room," Ciara said, grabbing her bag.

"Um, you mean the guest room. You two won't both be staying in the same room," Hope corrected her. "Skylar will be staying in the guest bedroom were Chase's bedroom used to be."

"Actually, Mom, we prefer to sleep in the same bed. We like talking before bed, and just being able to wake up next to each other," Ciara said.

Hope raised an eyebrow. "Do you live together?"

Ciara shook her head. "No, but—"

"Do you have sleepovers a lot?" Hope interrupted her.

"No. Just once in a while," Ciara said.

"But not all the time, so it's not going to hurt either of you to sleep in a separate beds and rooms tonight," Hope reasoned.

"Mom, you're being unfair. I'm not a child anymore. Heck, I'm not even a teen anymore!" Ciara whined.

"Well, you're under my roof, meaning you're living under my rules. Show Skylar to the guest bedroom please," Hope said sternly.

"It's all right," Skylar said before Ciara could protest more. "It's no big deal. As long as I have a bed to sleep on, I'm happy." She smiled.

Ciara glared at her mother. "Fine."

The girls then headed up to their rooms.

Hope sighed. "I know she doesn't like it, but I don't find it appropriate for my daughter to be sharing a bed with anyone until she is old enough to make good decisions. I know she's in her twenties, but she has proven she clearly doesn't know how to make good decisions!" Hope said.

Aiden gently massaged her shoulders from behind. He decided it was best to stay out of this one and let it play out on its own. "You're stressing out. You need to relax."

Hope looked up and back at him. "Can you blame me? My child is being brainwashed into thinking she is gay. How can I be okay with that?"

Aiden smirked. "I don't think someone can be brainwashed into being gay. It doesn't work that way."

"Well, all I know is she was straight until she met that girl." Hope sighed.

"Don't worry about it. Ciara's still young. This could just be a phase," Aiden said; just wanting to appease his love.

Hope sighed. "I'm sure you're right. I shouldn't even worry about it. She'll come to her senses soon enough."

Aiden pushed some hair away from her neck, then kissed her neck. "What do you say we get you up to bed, hm? We can work on destressing you…" He go the lustful look in his eyes.

Hope turned around to face him, her hands on his chest, and an eyebrow raised. "But what if they hear us, Mr. Jennings?"

"Their bedrooms are at the opposite end of the hall. Like we talked about earlier, maybe if we're really, really quiet…" he murmured.

She moaned. "Mm… It's worth a shot!"

They grinned, then kissed.

Hope then turned off all the lights before Aiden took her hand and led her up the stairs and down the hall to their bedroom.

 _ **~*came back to me*~**_

The next morning, Hope woke up to Aiden staring at her. She smiled. "What?"

"I'm just thinking about how phenomenal last night was, and how good it felt to be with you again. That healing time took way too long…" he murmured as he kissed her neck.

She closed her eyes. "It was well worth the wait, wasn't it, Mr. Jennings?"

"Mm, you can say that again…" he murmured.

They kissed some more, then Aiden stood up and began to dress.

Hope pouted. "Aren't you going to join me in the shower?"

"I figured I'd make breakfast for us all!" Aiden said. "I may not be a superb cook, but I can make the basics. Heck, I can cook better than you at the very least!" He smirked.

Hope smirked too. "I can't even get mad at you for saying that because I know it's true."

"How does Bisquick pancakes and syrup, bacon and sausage, and cheddar scrambled eggs sound?" Aiden asked.

Hope leaned over and kissed his lips. "Can you put chocolate chips in my pancakes?"

"I wouldn't dream of leaving them out!" Aiden said.

Hope grinned big. "Thank you." They kissed some more, then Aiden left to go make breakfast.

Hope smiled as she watched him leave, feeling like the luckiest woman on earth to have him not only be her lover, but also the father of her babies-to-be.

She rubbed her stomach, then headed into the bathroom and emptied her bladder. She then took her shower and got dressed, then went to see if Ciara and Skylar were up yet. After all, she didn't want their breakfast to go cold.

She headed down to Ciara's room, feeling too awkward to check on Skylar. She'd let Ciara do that, she figured.

When she got to Ciara's door, she opened the door, and was hit with a shocking site. For there, kissing in each other's arms on Ciara's bed, was Skylar and Ciara, both clad in nothing but their bras.


	35. S2E10

_**This Love…**_

 _ **Season 2 Episode 10: Trouble in Paradise**_

"I thought I told you I wanted you to stay in separate rooms," Hope said calmly.

Ciara and Skylar quickly broke apart.

"Miss. Brady!" Skylar quickly jumped out of bed and searched the floor until she found her shirt. She found it, and slipped it on. She already had a pair of pajama bottoms on. "At the risk of sounding clichéd, this isn't what it looks like!"

"Mom, before you blow a gasket, she fully intended on sleeping in the spare bedroom. However, we wanted to watch a movie in bed together first, and we decided to watch it in my room. We ended up falling asleep during it. I woke up and she was still sleeping. She is a heavy sleeper, and I felt bad waking her, so I just turned off the TV and let her sleep. True, I could have gotten up and gone to the spare bedroom myself, but I figured it didn't matter since we were only sleeping," Ciara explained.

Skylar nodded. "Not that we would be doing anything else in your house anyway. I would never disrespect you or your house like that."

"How did you end up kissing in your bras?" Hope couldn't help but ask. She had been listening to the explanations with her arms crossed over her chest; not sure if she was buying any of this or not.

Ciara blushed. "We paused for a kissing break between getting ready."

"Well, Aiden has made us all breakfast. Please hurry up and get dressed before breakfast gets cold," Hope said. She nodded at Skylar. "I'm assuming you'll be dressing in the spare bedroom?"

Ciara rolled her eyes.

Skyla nodded. "Yes, Miss. Brady. Of course!" She then headed out of the room with Hope watching closely to make sure she was actually leaving.

Once Hope saw Skylar go into the spare bedroom and shut the door, she turned her attention back to Ciara. "Please hurry. I don't want Aiden to feel bad, which he will if the food gets cold."

"I'll be right down, Mom," Ciara said quietly.

Hope nodded, then shut Ciara's bedroom door. Then, she headed downstairs to have breakfast.

 _ **~*came back to me*~**_

"Thank you for breakfast, my Love." Hope pulled Aiden close and kissed him softly on the lips, then rested her forehead against his. "It was delicious! The babies and I thank you."

He pulled her close by the waist and hungrily kissed her. "You're very welcome! Do you want to meet me at the office for lunch? We can go out. Say around noon?"

She nodded. "Whatever gets me to see you."

They kissed some more.

"I gotta go, or I'm going to be late for a meeting with a client. But I'll see you at lunchtime." He kissed her once more. "Try to be nice to Skylar for Ciara's sake. All right?"

Hope rolled her eyes. "I'll try."

"I'm proud of you for not going off on them after finding them in bed together." He kissed her lips one more time. "See you later."

"I love you," Hope said to him.

"I love you too, Baby." He then kissed her stomach. "And Daddy loves _you_!"

Hope grinned, feeling like the luckiest woman on earth.

Aiden then left.

"So, we wanted to check out the mall today and maybe go ice skating," Ciara said to Hope. "You're welcome to come if you want."

Hope shook her head. "That's okay. I'll let you two go and have your fun. We can get together tonight. We'll do dinner together and maybe have a game night?"

Ciara smirked. "As long as you're not cooking!"

Hope smirked. "Don't worry, poisoning the family is not on my to-do list today," she teased. _Though Skylar, maybe_ , she thought to herself with a smirk.

"I just got to grab my purse upstairs," Ciara said, going up to get it.

Skylar sat on the couch, looking as if she felt awkward.

Hope sat down next to her. "So, did you enjoy your breakfast?" She smiled.

Skylar smiled too. "Very much so! Your boyfriend's a great cook!"

"He can cook the basics anyway," Hope said with a nod. "Though he's a gourmet chef compared to me!"

Skylar laughed. "I'm sure you're not _that_ bad."

"Trust me, I am." Hope pushed some hair behind her ear. "So Skylar, do you really love my daughter as much as you say you do?"

Skylar nodded. "Yes, Ma'am! I know she and I haven't known each other for very long, but still… I love her. I just feel it in my bones, you know?"

"That's the thing. I _do_ know. I've been lucky enough to have love three times in my life. Therefore, I know what love is and I also know that what you have with my daughter is not love. It is more infatuation than anything. I also know my daughter isn't really gay; she's just experimenting."

"With all due respect, Miss Brady, but I beg to differ. You daughter and I are very much in love, and she isn't just experimenting; trust me."

"Ciara has dated guys before. She has never liked women until you came along. Let's be honest here. You fell for my daughter, or at least, _felt_ like you fell for her, so you made her believe she is in love with you too. She just wanted a friend, but you convinced her that she is in love with you," Hope stated.

Skylar laughed. "Oh, Miss Brady, you know absolutely nothing about being gay, do you? You can't talk someone into being gay. They either are or they aren't!"

Hope shook her head. "All I know is that Ciara has always been into boys until you came along. She is confused, and doesn't know what she wants. Look, you seem like a nice girl, and I'm sure you can get any actual lesbian you want. But my daughter isn't a lesbian."

"Yes, she is! I think you need to talk to your daughter Miss Brady, and get to know her a little better, because you clearly don't know her as well as you thought," Skylar said calmly.

Hope was ticked now. "How dare you try to say you know my daughter better than I do?"

Skylar's mouth dropped open in surprise. "I didn't, I—"

Hope cut her off. "Look, I have a lot of money—enough to pay off any student loans you might have. I can even pay for the remainder of your college tuition. All you have to do is pack your bags and go home. Then you transfer to a different medical school and never see or talk to my daughter again."

Skylar laughed. "That's not going to happen! I love that school. It's the best veterinary school around. I'm not leaving."

"Well, you can stay, but still refuse to talk to my daughter outside of school, and you can stop seeing her," Hope reasoned.

"I can't be bought. I not only love the school, but I love your daughter even more," Skylar told her. "I can't believe you'd even offer me such a thing!"

Hope shook her head. "Everyone has a price. What's yours? A hundred grand, plus all of your college expenses? And paying off your loans still stands as well?"

Skylar stood up, and clenched her fists at her sides. "Miss Brady, you are way out of line! I don't even have any student loans! I get by just fine on my own financially, thank you! Even if I couldn't, I'd never let you bribe me with money just so I'd stop seeing the woman I love!"

"Excuse me?" Ciara asked, suddenly appearing at the bottom of the stairs now. She looked at Hope, her eyes narrowed with anger. "Mom, what the hell did you just do?"

Hope stood up as well, and pushed some hair behind her ear. She blushed. "Ciara!" She blushed even more. She guessed she had some explaining to do…

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

"Skylar, what did my mom just do? Cuz she clearly isn't going to answer me," Ciara asked Skylar.

"She offered to pay off all my student loans, pay of the rest of my college tuition, and give me a hundred thousand dollars on top of that in exchange for me transferring schools and breaking up with you. When I refused to, she suggested I stay, but still cut off all ties with you," Skylar explained. "I told her no way even if I had student loans!"

Ciara shook her head, and glared at her mother, her arms crossed over her chest. "Unbelievable!" She then looked at Skylar. "Can you please give me a moment alone with my mom?"

Skylar nodded. "Sure. Take your time. I promised my mom I'd call her today anyway." She took out her cell phone. "I'll be in the spare bedroom if you need me." She then headed upstairs.

Ciara then turned to Hope. "What the hell was that all about, Mom?"

"Watch your language when you're in my house please. And when you're around me period. The twins don't need to hear that kind of language—especially when they aren't even out of the womb yet!" Hope placed her hands over her stomach.

Ciara rolled her eyes. "Stop changing the subject!"

Hope sighed, and sat down. Her head was beginning to hurt, as was her back.

Ciara sat down next to her. "Mom, you had no right to talk to my girlfriend like that. Are you _trying_ to hurt me?"

Hope took Ciara's hands in hers. "Baby, you know I would never do anything to hurt you! Everything I do for you is for your own good!"

Ciara pulled her hands away. "How could trying to pay my girlfriend off so that she cuts off all ties with me be for my own good?"

"Ciara, trust me. You're not a lesbian. I know Skylar may have brainwashed you into thinking you are one, but you're not. You've liked boys ever since you were old enough to have crushes."

Ciara raised an eyebrow at her. "I know you're not insinuating that you know better than I do how I feel. That would be crazy!"

Hope shrugged. "Sometimes a mother just knows these things."

Ciara stood up. "Well, you don't know who I love! What? You've never heard of someone loving both genders before?"

Hope nodded. "I have, but like you, those are just confused people."

"I can't believe my own mother is taking like this! Unbelievable," Ciara said, shaking her head.

"Well, it's true! You either like men, or you like women. There is no in between," Hope said, standing up and crossing her arms over her chest.

Ciara shook her head. "It's not cut and dry like that, Mom. I can't help who I fall for. I just fall. I fell for Skylar and it isn't because of anything she tried to force upon me!"

"Skylar is a bad influence on you. She dresses like a punk, she listens to weird music. She has tattoos. You were never interested in any of that stuff before you met her. You also were never the type to lie half naked in your bed, making out in my house!" Hope snapped.

"You know nothing about Skylar, and you know nothing about me!" Ciara said, staring coldly into her mother's eyes. "I do things because _I_ want to; not because anyone else wants to. And as for making out, you're not one to really talk, are you mother?"

Hope raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean by _that_?"

"You really have to ask? You're living with Aiden without even being engaged to him. And don't think that just because you're quiet, you won't be heard. Skylar and I could hear you two going at it last night. What a hypocrite you are, not even wanting my girlfriend and I to sleep in the same bed, yet at the same time you're screwing your boyfriend in _your_ bedroom for all to hear!" Ciara snapped.

Hope held her head high. She wasn't going to let her own daughter put her in her place! "I'm sorry you had to hear that, but I'm not sorry for sharing my love with my boyfriend. Aiden and I are very much in love, and have two babies on the way. You and Skylar have nothing but adolescent infatuation between you!"

"Save it, Mom! In case you haven't noticed, I'm not a child anymore. I am a fully grown adult. Skylar and I are in love and we don't need your confirmation or your permission to be in love. By the way, what's with you making her call you Miss Brady? Yo didn't like Mrs. Williams because it reminds you of Julie, but, hello, _I'm_ Miss Brady! Talk about weird! Anyone else you let call you Hope, but you're so homophobic that you can't even let my girlfriend call you by your actual name. She has been nothing but kind and respectful to you and you still treat her like trash!" Ciara yelled.

"Well, it's what she deserves for brainwashing you into thinking you're gay!" Hope snapped.

Ciara laughed bitterly and shook her head. "Again with the brainwashing…" She shook her head in disbelief. "This is so ridiculous!" She looked Hope in the eyes. "Being gay doesn't define Skylar. At least _she_ didn't have sex with three guys in less than a year. You jumped from Aiden to Dad, then Rafe. Dad wasn't even cold for a year before you slept with Rafe. Then you couldn't contain yourself and slept with Aiden again, and got yourself pregnant with twins. At least Skylar's not a slut like you!"

Hope didn't know what got into her. It happened so fast; almost like an involuntary muscle spasm. She slapped Ciara hard across the face.

Ciara, mouth dropped open in shock, placed a hand to the cheek where Hope had just slapped her. "You've never hit me before in your life!"

Hope was shocked herself, but she was still so angry, it didn't faze her too much. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have hit you," she said quietly. "But you shouldn't have said what you just said."

Ciara shrugged. "Why not? It's true. Don't worry. Skylar and I will find a hotel for tonight then head back home tomorrow."

Hope was too upset to protest.

Ciara then headed upstairs to pack and get Skylar.

Hope sighed, and threw herself down onto the couch. She placed her hands over her stomach. "Oh, babies, what am I going to do with your sister?" she asked to her unborn children. Though she knew that they didn't know any more than she did.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

Hope and Aiden arrived at the pub, and sat down to eat.

"I'm glad Caroline isn't working. I still don't think she likes me very much. In fact, I'm willing to bet money on it that she is only nice to me because I'm the father to the twins," Aiden said as they looked over the specials.

"She'll come around. She's just very protective of me," Hope said, smiling weakly. She was sad, and Aiden could tell.

He took her menu and set it down, then took her hands in his. "Baby, but give her a call."

Hope looked at him in confusion. "Caroline?"

Aiden shook his head. "Ciara. I know it's killing you how you left things with her." Ciara and Skylar had packed up and left directly following Ciara and Hope's fight. They had stayed at a hotel for the night and left the next morning without saying goodbye to her. That had been a few days ago. Hope hadn't talked to Ciara since.

Hope shook her head. "I can't face her. I should not have slapped her. I had no right. I just couldn't believe the way she was talking to me! My own daughter called me a slut. She never would have called me such a name before getting involved with Skylar!"

"Well, sometimes we can't control what our kids do. We may not like it, but they sure as heck aren't going to listen to us—parents or not!" Aiden said.

Hope raised an eyebrow. "Say the twins grow up and they want to date a guy or girl you don't approve of. Wouldn't you try to stop them from dating said person?"

Aiden sighed. "Truth be told, yes. But I'd also keep in mind that I can't force it. You really shouldn't have bribed Skylar to break it off with Ciara. Can't you see how that would upset Ciara?" Aiden asked.

Hope nodded. "I suppose so."

"And can you see why she'd think you were a hypocrite, not letting her share a bed with Skylar, but sleeping with me?" Aiden asked next.

Hope raised an eyebrow. "So you think I really am a slut and a hypocrite?"

Aiden held his hands up in the air. "Woah. "Baby, now you're just putting words in my mouth. You only sleep with people you love. Though the Rafe thing, I will never understand. Even so, I don't think that makes you a slut. You're nor hypocrite either. I'm just trying to think like a twenty-year-old being told no by her mother would think; that's all."

"Well, I'm not ready to apologize to her. _She_ should apologize to _me_!" Hope said.

Aiden nodded. "That's fine. Just remember, arguments aren't worth losing the time you could be spending with each other."

Hope picked up her menu again. "I don't want to think about her right now." She looked at Aiden. "I just want to have the corned beef and cabbage and maybe a green beer out of tradition!"

"Sounds good except for the beer," Aiden said. "Remember, you're not the only one drinking now."

Hope rolled her eyes. "Relax! Ciara already thinks I'm a bad mother. I don't need you thinking it too. They have non-alcoholic beer here too now. It obviously doesn't taste as good as the real thing, but it will do."

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to imply that you're a bad mother. I just thought you forgot you were pregnant," Aiden said.

Hope laughed. "As if I could ever forget!"

Aiden laughed too. "All right. I'm just dumb I guess."

Hope took his hand and kissed it. "Never dumb. Just a good daddy looking out for his babies before they're even born."

"And they couldn't have a better mommy than you," Aiden said, kissing her hand in return.

Hope smiled at him, once again, feeling like the luckiest woman on earth.

 _ **~*came back to me*~**_

"Happy St. Patrick's Day!" Aiden said to Hope as he held out his mug of non-alcoholic beer.

Hope held out her mug as well. "Happy St. Patrick's Day!"

They toasted, then drank up.

They then began to eat their meals. They had both ordered the corned beef and cabbage.

They made small talk as they had their lunch, then the topic got back onto Ciara.

"I was thinking about how you said no argument was worth losing time spent with your loved one," Hope began.

Aiden raised an eyebrow. "Oh yeah? You actually listened to something I said?"

Hope laughed. "Shut up and let me finish!" She grinned. "I was thinking, I really should apologize to Ciara. I think I'm going to call her. No matter what she said to me, I had no right to slap her. Also, I'm thinking that maybe it _was_ kind of silly after all to think that Skylar brainwashed her into being gay."

Aiden was relieved. "I don't think anyone can be brainwashed into loving someone. I couldn't brainwash you when I came back to Salem the last time."

Hope nodded. "That is true. Though, even though I didn't want to admit it at the time, I already loved you anyway."

"Really? Cuz you seemed pretty happy with Rafe," Aiden said; surprised.

Hope nodded. "I was, but… To be perfectly truthful, I still had lingering feelings for you even though I did my best to suppress them."

"Well, it's good to know you never stopped loving me because I never stopped loving you!" Aiden told her.

Hope smiled at him then her expression turned serious again. "The more I think about it, the more I know the real reason why Ciara turned gay."

Aiden finished his meal and wiped his mouth. "Why's that?" he asked hesitantly. He didn't think anyone could just "turn gay", but he was willing to humor her.

Hope looked at him. "It's because Chase raped her. That screwed her up mentally. I'm sure that is what turned her off from men."

Aiden nearly choked on the rest of his green beer. "Wait, so now you're blaming my dead son?"

Hope shrugged. "I'm just saying, he raped her. He was her first sexual experience. She hadn't even really had a serious boyfriend before that. I can see how she would easily be turned off from men because of it. Your son warped her mind on what love really is."

"Okay, I supported you despite your deluded theories before, Hope, but I'm sorry, this time I cannot support you!" Aiden slammed his napkin down.

"Aiden, I don't know why you're so upset with me. I'm only stating facts. Heck, if anyone should be angry with anyone, I should be angry with you. Had you not been involved with the Dimeras, you never would have been locked up, and therefore you would have actually been here for your son so that he didn't turn into a monster!" Hope snapped.

"Oh, so now my son's a monster, is he?" Aiden asked, so angry he was shaking now.

Hope nodded. "He raped my daughter. I'd say that qualifies him as a monster!"

Aiden stood up then. "I have to get back to work!" he said coldly.

Hope stood up as well. "Aiden, don't be like that. How I feel about Chase in no way reflects on how I feel about you!" Hope said, calming down a bit.

Aiden looked at her. "You just blamed me by saying that had I been there for Chase, the rape wouldn't have happened. Anyway, when you call my child a monster, I do take it as a personal attack. See you at home. You can pay the bill. You have the money. After all, you were going to pay off student loans and a college tuition, right?" he said sarcastically. He then left the pub, slamming the door behind him.

"Aiden!" Hope called, out, looking at the closed door in disbelief.

She then sighed, and plopped herself back down into her chair. She then took a long swig of her green beer, whishing so badly it had alcohol in it. "This week has _not_ been a good week to be Hope!" she muttered to herself before motioning the waiter for another non-alcoholic green beer.


	36. S2E11

_**This Love…**_

 _ **Season 2 Episode 11: The Crossroads**_

During the rest of his work day, Aiden was in a foul mood. He had thought Hope had gotten past the whole Chase thing. He certainly wasn't condoning what Chase had done, but he was dead. Did Hope really need to keep tearing him down? Though, he supposed deep down he could see Hope's point about the whole "rape turning Ciara off from men" thing. It made more sense than Skylar brainwashing Ciara into being gay at least. Even so, Ciara had loved Theo since the rape had happened. Had Chase's raping her affected her, wouldn't have made her gay right away? Maybe it was different because she trusted Theo. He didn't know. All he knew was that he hated fighting with Hope.

He took out his cell phone and brought up Hope's name. He ran his thumb over her picture. It was his favorite picture of her. She was holding a bouquet of yellow and pink tulips, and smiling the most beautiful smile.

He sighed, this thumb hovering over the call button. He set his phone down; unable to get himself to talk to her just yet.

Suddenly, his office phone rang. He picked up "Aiden Jennings's office," he answered.

"Mr. Jennings you have a visitor," Tiffany's voice came on the other end of the line.

"Is it Hope?" he asked hopefully.

"So, it's your sister," she responded.

Aiden sighed. As if he needed something else to make his mood foul today. "Send her in," he grumbled. He put the phone back on the hook just as Carol opened the door.

"Are you done being a jerk?" she asked as she shut the door behind her.

Aiden rubbed his forehead. "Could we not do this today? I'm already having a bad day."

Carol sat down in the chair in front of his desk. "I'm not the one who always picks fights." She took an Andes Candies from the candy dish he had on his desk and unwrapped it. "What's wrong?"

"Not that it's any of your business, but Hope and I got into a fight," Aiden said, moving around some paperwork just to appear like he had better things to do than talk to his sister.

"Why?" Carol popped the candy into her mouth.

Aiden sighed. He didn't really feel like confessing something to his sister that was really none of her business, but at the same time, it wasn't like he was crawling with friends to talk to. He needed to unload. "She just found out her daughter is in a gay relationship, and she's not too happy about it. At first she tried to say that Skylar, Ciara's girlfriend, brainwashed Ciara into being gay. Now she's trying to say that it was because Chase raped her. She thinks Chase scared her off of men."

Carol shrugged. "Sounds about right." She reached for another candy, but Aiden smacked her hand. "Those are for my clients!" he scolded.

Carol rolled her eyes and took one anyway.

Aiden glared at her. "Ciara's liked her friend Theo since the rape. If Chase had really turned her off from men, don't you think it would have taken effect right away?"

"Oh, I don't know. Girls are different than boys. They are more emotional. Their emotions can make them act oddly. You said Theo is her friend. She probably felt safe with him because she trusted him. When things didn't work out between them, she had no other guy she could trust, and therefore went to girls." Carol shrugged. "I don't know. I'm not a psychiatrist. It's just my two cents. Who knows? Maybe she's just bisexual? It's not unheard of nowadays to love both sexes. Heck, some are married with kids, and nothing traumatic happens, yet they just end up developing feelings for the opposite sex later in life. Or she could simply be experimenting. It could be a number of things."

"She seems to really love Skylar. I don't think she's just experimenting," Aiden reasoned.

Again, Carol shrugged. "Like I said, I'm not a psychiatrist. It was just a few ideas I thought it could possibly be."

"I just hate fighting with Hope. I never thought I'd get her back once she left me for Rafe. Now that I have her back, it is killing me to fight with her," Aiden confessed.

"Then don't fight with her; simple as that," Carol said. "Just one more, I promise. These are addicting!" She grabbed another Andes candies.

Aiden shot her a death glare.

"Relax! I'll buy you a whole crate if it makes you feel better," Carol said with an eye roll.

Aiden sighed. "I feel like I'm betraying Chase if I just let her talk badly about him."

"Well, in all fairness, you have to look at things from Hope's side. I mean, he not only raped her daughter but he in the process took her daughter's virginity, which is something that should have been saved for someone special. Not that Chase wasn't special, but she wasn't in love with him. Wouldn't you feel the same way if Ciara were your daughter and Chase was Hope's son?"

Aiden hesitated, but then slowly nodded. "I guess I would."

"There you go. Just talk to Hope in a calm manner. You both need to communicate. That is the key to a successful relationship," Carol said, standing up.

Aiden raised an eyebrow. "And what would you know about a successful relationship?"

Carol smirked. "Ouch! I learn from my mistakes. I've made plenty of mistakes, so I've learned plenty in return."

"So, why did you come here?" Aiden asked her. "I know it wasn't to hear me wallow in self-pity over Hope."

Carol placed her hand on the back of the chair she had just gotten up from. "I just wanted to make sure the answer is truly no from you about that kidney. Time is ticking, and I'm going to have to start looking for other alternatives if you don't want to give me your kidney."

Aiden sighed. Seeing as she had given him some good advice on Hope, he was feeling generous. "I'll tell you what. I'll agree to at least get the test at the hospital to see if I'm a perfect match."

Carol cried out in happiness and clapped her hands.

"I didn't say I'd give it to you! I'm just checking for now," Aiden reminded her.

Carol surprised him by walking behind the desk and hugging him from behind. She kissed his cheek. "It's a start. I'm grateful you're even thinking about it. Thank you. I love you."

Aiden was a little taken aback. It had been a long time since Carol had said that to him. "You're just saying that because you want my kidney." He was so used to her having a motive, it was automatic for him to be defensive around her.

"I love you with or without your kidney," she said simply as she headed to the door.

Aiden hesitated for just a moment, then called out her name. "Carol…"

She turned around. "Yes?"

He took out another Andes Candies and tossed it to her.

She caught it.

"I love you too," he said.

She actually got tears in her eyes. She blew him a kiss, then left his office, shutting the door behind her.

Aiden looked at the closed door and sighed. Despite being angry with the way his sister had treated him in the past, he realized, he really did love her. So help him.

 _ **~*came back to me*~**_

Aiden headed home from work, just ready for the day to be over. He was still angry with Hope and though he loved her always, he wasn't quite ready to talk to her yet. Even so, he wasn't much of a drinker, so a bar was out of the question. He really had nowhere else to go. He had called the hospital to set up the test, but they couldn't get him into until the next day. So, back home it was.

He entered the house and closed the door behind him. He didn't see Hope anywhere downstairs. He contemplated staying downstairs, but he felt like lying down. It had been that kind of day. So, he headed up the stairs to lie down on the spare bedroom's bed. He knew Hope was probably in their bedroom.

However, a moment later, Hope appeared in the spare bedroom wearing a bathrobe.

"I came in here to be away from you," he grumbled.

She pouted. "You're still mad?" She began walking toward him.

"You insulted my son. I know what he did was so very wrong, but you need to have more respect for him when talking to me. He is my son," Aiden snapped. "And you don't know for sure that Ciara being gay is because of what he did. I—"

She cut him off with a finger to his lips. "Sh… You're right. I'm sorry. I had no right to talk badly about him to you." She began kissing him passionately on the lips.

Aiden was still angry with her, but couldn't get himself to not kiss her back. He kissed her for a moment, then gently pushed her away. "I'm still angry with you. We're going to have to talk about this whole Chase thing."

She bit her bottom lip. "Please don't be angry." She kissed down the side of his neck. "I love you. Don't you love me?"

He sighed. "You know, I do, but…"

"No buts." Hope said breathily as she dropped her robe.

"Woah," Aiden said, suddenly not remembering why he was angry with her. She was wearing a very small green see-thru mesh bra and matching underwear. There were very small green sequined shamrocks over the middle of her breasts and frontal region, but nothing else was left to the imagination.

She took him in her arms and kissed him again. "You want me, don't you, Mr. Jennings?" She kissed down the side of his neck while slipping off his jacket and letting it drop to the floor.

"Hope, what part of I'm mad at you don't you understand?" he asked, though he couldn't get his tone to show any anger.

"I said I'm sorry. You forgive me, don't you, my love?" She began to undo his belt. "I love you so much. I also really need you to make love to me." She moved unto unbuttoning his shirt, and kissing his bare skin as she exposed it. "Please?" She looked up at him with pleading eyes and bit her bottom lip.

Aiden could resist her no longer. "We're still going to have to talk later…" He said.

Hope nodded. "Of course!" She then purred into his ear as she yanked off his pants, but now I want to play."

He moaned, all his anger suddenly being taken over by his desire for her. He picked her up and carried her to their bedroom. He wanted her on their own bed.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

Hope and Aiden lay in bed post lovemaking, Aiden kissing her neck, and Hope tangling her fingers in his hair.

Their lips met again and they kissed until they needed to break for air.

Hope smiled at him, and gently finger-combed his hair. "It's just like old times," she said.

Aiden grinned. "What is?"

"I say something that makes you angry. You storm off. Then I find a way to seduce you into forgiving me." Hope grinned, her tone carrying a hint of seduction. "Then we end up making love and it's incredible."

"What can I say? You're irresistible! His eyes filled with desire for her. "Especially in that lingerie." He moaned at the memory. "And out of it." He began kissing up the side of her neck again.

She closed her eyes and smiled. "I got it especially for St. Patrick's Day. When I saw it in the store window, I had a feeling you'd like it."

"Mm, I did. Very much!" Aiden's expression then turned more serious as he looked her in the eyes. "But we still need to talk. Are you still having issues with my son and what he did to your daughter? I thought you were able to forgive him. I know he's dead and gone and it shouldn't matter anymore, but Hope, I loved him and always will. He's still my son. I understand you being angry with him. I totally get it. But he was so remorseful. Don't you think someone who is remorseful should have a second chance?"

Hope sighed. She then turned on her side to face him, and gently stroked his cheek. "I'm sorry, Aiden. I should have been more sensitive, seeing as he is your son. This whole thing with Ciara being gay is just stressing me out so much!"

"I know it's hard, but, Baby, you know what Kayla said about keeping your stress levels down," Aiden reminded her. "You need to take care of our babies." He placed a hand over her stomach for emphasis.

Hope nodded. "I know, and I'm trying. It's just so hard to not worry—especially about my daughter. It's easier said than done."

Aiden nodded too. "I understand. "You never had a problem with Will and Sonny. Why do you have such a problem with Ciara being gay?"

Hope sighed. "I guess it's just because I really don't think Ciara is gay. It wasn't until now that she ever showed interest in the same sex."

"Well, Wil dated girls before he started dating Sonny, right?" Aiden asked.

Hope nodded. "Yes, but still… I really think it's something that is causing her to 'switch teams' as they say."

"So you do blame Chase," Aiden stated.

"Aiden, I don't know. I'm just trying to look at this from all angles. I know Chase wasn't in his right mind when he did that to her. It's just that Ciara is my baby. I don't care who it is, I'm going to be angry with the person who raped her. I don't hate him, and I guess I've even forgiven him, or at the very least I'm starting to forgive him. Even so, I think Chase raping Ciara really could be partly, if not all the reason she's switched to women. I'm not blaming you, and I don't even hate Chase for it. I'm just saying that it's a consequence for an action," Hope explained.

"I get it. I do. I guess we'll just have to compromise. We don't talk about Chase with each other," Aiden said simply.

Hope's expression softened, and she gently stroked his cheek. "Oh my love, you can talk about him anytime you want! I know how much you miss him. I know he wasn't a monster. I'm sorry I said anything. Let's just not talk about him and Ciara, but anything else about Chase is fine to talk about. All right?" She grinned at him.

Aiden grinned too. "It's a deal. There is something we need to talk about though."

Hope raised an eyebrow. "About Chase?"

Aiden shook his head. "About Carol. Time is running out. She needs a kidney. I told her I'd at least go and see if I was a match, but that I wasn't saying I'd give it to her just yet."

"Why the sudden change of heart?" Hope asked.

"She kind of helped me see that there was nothing worth fighting with you over; that my love for you means more than anything we could ever fight about," Aiden confessed.

Hope ran her finger lazily up and down Aiden's chest. "I like your sister. I know you have your issues with her, but aside from not taking Chase in, and the things you mentioned, she does seem like a nice woman."

Aiden nodded. "She is. She just acts reckless and impulsive sometimes. She's not reliable at all."

Hope smiled knowingly. "But she's your sister and like her or not, you love her."

Aiden nodded. "Exactly! I have to at least try. I figure being checked to see if I'm a perfect match is a good first step."

Hope raised an eyebrow. "And if you _are_ a perfect match?"

Aiden sighed. "I guess we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. Would you be okay if I gave her a kidney?"

Hope nodded. "I wouldn't be thrilled about it, but she's family. I'd understand. I just hate the thought of you having one less kidney. What if you need it one day?"

Aiden grinned. "Maybe one day she can give it back after she dies."

Hope gasped and playfully swatted him. "You're so bad! Anyway, I'm not sure it even works that way."

"Well, we'd know I'd be a perfect match for it!" Aiden joked.

Hope laughed. "Stop it!"

"You know what else I'm a perfect match for?" Aiden asked her, his tone more serious now, and his mouth closer to hers.

Hope raised an eyebrow. "Me?"

"You know it!" Aiden said.

Hope smiled, then moaned as he got on top of her.

They then kissed and made love again, so happy to have made up after their earlier argument.

 _ **~*came back to me*~**_

It was a week later, and Aiden was at the hospital with Hope and Carol. Kayla had the results of Aiden's tests in. It had taken a week to get the results of all the tests. Finally, after four blood tests, a physical, a CT scan, a urine analysis, and electrocardiogram, _and_ a chest X-ray, they finally knew for sure if he was a perfect match and able to donate if he chose to.

"Had I known it took this much work just to test me, I might not have volunteered to be tested!" Aiden grumbled while Carol was up getting some coffee.

Hope gently rubbed his thigh. "Sometimes you have to do things you don't want to do—especially when family is involved."

Aiden nodded. "I know," he said quietly.

"I have your results now," Kayla said, coming into the waiting room. "You can follow me."

Carol came back over, coffee in hand, and they all headed into the private exam room.

Carol sat on the bed, and Aiden and Hope both took a seat.

"Okay, Doctor. Please give it to me straight. Is my brother a match, or do I need to start looking elsewhere?" Carol asked.

Kayla smiled brightly. "It's good news!" She looked at Aiden. "Your brother is a perfect match!"

She then looked at Carol, who let out a whoop of happiness and clapped her hands in relief.

Hope looked at Aiden.

Aiden smiled weakly. He had been hoping he wouldn't be a match. Then he wouldn't have had to feel so guilty if he said no. He didn't want to donate his kidney. But Carol was his sister and like her or not, he loved her. Did he really have a choice?

"So, what do you say, Gator-Aid? Will you give me your kidney?" Carol asked, clasping her hands together in a pleading manner, and batting her eyelashes I an equally as pleading manner.

Aiden looked from Carol to Kayla, to Hope. They were all looking at him, waiting for an answer.

Aiden didn't know what to do or say, so instead, he stood up, left the room, then got on the elevator and pressed up. He didn't know where he was going, or what he was going to do. All he knew was that he needed to be alone for a while.


	37. S2E12

_**This Love…**_

 _ **Season 2 Episode 12: Clarity**_

Hope found Aiden in the hospital's chapel. He was all alone, sitting in the front pew, staring at the Lord crucified on the cross.

She sat down next to him and gently rubbed his back. "What'cha thinkin'?" she asked gently.

Aiden kept his eyes on crucified Jesus as he spoke. "Just that I should stop being such a wimp. Jesus was crucified and murdered. He could have gotten Himself off the cross, but He didn't. He sucked it up and did what He had to do. He was younger than I am now when He died, I believe. Yet, though I'm older than He was, I'm too afraid to get cut open even though my sister needs me to survive."

Hope gently turned his face so that he was forced to look at her. "Except you're not Jesus. None of us are perfect like He was. It's totally understandable that you're afraid to go under the knife and have a vital organ taken from your body—especially for a sister you haven't been close with for a while."

"So you don't think I'm a horrible person for not wanting to give my sister a kidney?" he asked her, tears in his eyes.

"Oh, My love, never! Come here!" She held him close as she gently stroked his hair. "You don't have to do anything you don't want to do. You don't have to feel guilty. A kidney is a lot for someone to ask of another person—family or not!" Hope assured him.

He pulled away slightly to look her in the eyes. "But what about all that talk from you about doing things you don't want to do when family is involved?"

Hope wiped away his tears with her thumbs. "I say a lot of things." She smiled. "But just because it applies to me, it doesn't mean it has to apply to you. Everyone is different."

"I bet Carol hates me now," Aiden said with a sigh as he leaned back in the pew.

Hope took his hand and squeezed it, then gently kissed it. "Actually, before she left, she told me to tell you she's not mad at you. She doesn't hate you. She told me she completely understands, and feels bad for pressuring you."

"Still, I should apologize for getting her hopes up," Aiden said quietly. He sniffled.

Hope dug into her purse and found a tissue. She then handed it to him. "In all fairness, you only promised her the test. You never promised to give your kidney to her."

Aiden took the tissue from her. "Thank you." He blew his nose. "I know, but still… Carol took it as a yes, I'd give her my kidney. I know she did. That's just the way she's always been. Mom and Dad would give her a maybe and she'd take it as a yes."

"Trust me, she's not angry." Hope kissed his hands again. "I promise!"

"What's she going to do now?" Aiden asked her, looking at her expectantly.

Hope shrugged. "I don't know," she said in almost a whisper. "But she said she'll think of something. She didn't seem worried."

"Carol never lets anyone see what she's really feeling inside. She doesn't like being vulnerable to anyone. I just feel like such a monster!" Aiden buried his face in his hands.

Hope gently rubbed his back again. "You're not a monster!" She leaned closer to murmur in his ear, "I don't date and live with monsters. The ones in my head maybe, but I assure you, you're not one of them."

Aiden looked at her, and she grinned.

He smirked. "What would I do without you?"

Hope looked off into the distance as if deep in thought and tapped her chin. "Mm… I don't know. Probably wander around aimlessly with no real purpose in life." She grinned at him to show she was only teasing him.

Aiden grinned at her. "Probably!" he agreed gently stroking her hair. "Thanks for the pep talk."

"Don't mention it! Anything for the man I love," Hope said, her eyes lowering with love and desire for him.

They slowly leaned in, then softly kissed each other.

Hope's stomach then loudly growled. She smirked, and rubbed her stomach. "I think that's the babies' way of telling me it's well past lunchtime!"

Aiden laughed. "Well, then let's get some lunch in all three of those bellies!" He gently rubbed her stomach. He then raised an eyebrow. "Wait. Are their stomachs formed yet?"

Hope grinned. "They should be coming along nicely by now. Now let's go to KFC. I'm _really_ in the mood for their macaroni and cheese!"

Aiden smiled. "Well, at least that's normal," he said as they stood up and headed out of the chapel hand-in-hand.

"With ketchup!" Hope said, licking her lips at the thought.

"And there goes normal…." Aiden said.

"I'm pregnant with twins—don't judge me," Hope said with a playful pout, her free hand over her stomach.

"I hope our children have better taste in food once they're born," Aiden joked.

Hope laughed.

 _ **~*came back to me*~**_

"I don't know what I'm going to do, Andre! I don't wanna die! Oh curse all those years of drinking too much alcohol! You know, my mother always warned me about the dangers alcohol can do to the body, but of course I was too young, reckless, and stupid to listen to her," Carol said as Andre held her close on the couch.

"Be careful not to get your tears on my suit. I just had it dry cleaned, and I'd like it to stay both dry and clean," Andre said, taking a tissue from the lampstand beside the couch and handing it to her.

Carol took the tissue and dabbed her eyes with it before blowing her nose in it. "I'm sorry." She looked Andre in the eyes, her own eyes filled with fresh tears. "I'm just so scared of dying! I thought for sure Aiden would come around, but I could tell by the way he ran out of the hospital room that he _so_ doesn't want to do this. I can't make him do anything he doesn't want to do. I've already put him through enough."

"Now, now, my dear Carol! Are you forgetting who your boyfriend is?" Andre asked her, gently patting her back as his own awkward and uncomfortable way of comforting her.

Carol sniffled, and dabbed her nose. "So now we have titles?"

Andre shrugged. "I've just come out of a relationship with a woman who couldn't make up her mind. Believe it or not, even though everyone sees me as this cold-hearted monster like they did with my father, I do have a heart, and I do want a serious relationship. Now I know you and I met not that long ago, but still… I'd like to consider you my girlfriend."

Carol placed her head and hand on his chest again, and smiled. "I'd like to be boyfriend and girlfriend too. I was just surprised; that's all."

"Your hand doesn't have snot on it, does it?" Andre asked as he looked at her hand on his chest. He looked pained.

Carol rolled her eyes. "Don't worry. I'm not getting anything on your precious suit."

"And your nose stopped running?" Andre asked.

"Andre, you're kind of ruining a moment here," Carol said; starting to get a little annoyed.

"So sorry," Andre said dryly. "Anyway, seeing as I am your boyfriend now, it is my duty to take care of you."

Carol looked up at him. "So you'll see if you're a match and give me a kidney if you are?"

"Oh, my sweet Carol! There's not a chance in hell. After all, I'm only your boyfriend; not your husband! I don't give such vital organs to just anybody, you know."

"Gee, thanks," Carol said, resisting the urge to blow her nose on his lapel.

"However, being my girlfriend does count for something. So, I will find you a donor. With my resources and money, it shouldn't take long at all," Andre said simply.

Carol was interested again, though skeptical. She raised an eyebrow. "You mean like the black market?" she asked. "That's illegal."

Andre laughed. "Something you should know about me Sweet Carol, is that my middle name is illegal. It's just how my family rolls; like it or not. But don't worry. I've gotten out of the business of hurting people. After all, I need to be the uncle little Thomas can be proud of—and the kind of boyfriend you can be proud of, of course. I always offer a special monetary incentive for getting what I want from people."

"What if we get caught?" Carol asked.

"Don't worry. The Dimeras have a family doctor that always uses discretion. He will be able to do your surgery and everything will be made to look legit. I promise you," Andre assured her.

Carol sighed. "I don't know. I'd feel bad doing something illegal."

"Would you rather be a good little girl and do everything by the book, or would you rather be alive and healthy?" Andre asked.

Carol sighed. "Nobody would be killed for this kidney would they?"

Andre shook his head. "Like I said, I'm out of the harming people business."

"And nobody would have their kidney taken against their will like some creepy urban legend?" Carol pressed, an eyebrow raised.

Andre shook his head. "With the kind of money I'll be offering, I can assure you, people will be _begging_ me to take their kidney."

"So, I'd be helping them out too in a way," Carol reasoned.

Andre nodded. "They get the cash that they so desperately need, and you get your new kidney that _you_ so desperately need."

Carol thought about it for just a moment more, then nodded. "All right! Let's do it!"

Andre grinned. "Excellent! I'll get to work on it later tonight. But now… I want to get to work on romancing my wonderful new girlfriend." He moved closer to her, pushed some hair off her shoulder, and began to kiss the side of her neck.

Carol smiled, and closed her eyes, tilting her head to the opposite side to give Andre better access to her neck. She could get used to getting whatever she wanted, whenever she wanted it…

 _ **~*came back to me*~**_

Aiden was nervous. It had been a few days since he had walked away from Carol in the hospital. He hadn't talked to her until this morning. It was Sunday, so his office was closed for the day. He and Hope had gone to church, but then Jennifer had wanted to take Hope out for a girls' day lunch. Aiden took that as the perfect opportunity to invite Carol to lunch. After all, he couldn't avoid her forever, he knew.

Surprisingly, Carol was already at the pub when he got there.

She smiled and waved at him from a booth, and he quickly headed over to her. At least she was smiling, he figured. So maybe Hope was right, and she really wasn't angry with him.

He took off his coat and hung it on the hanger, then sat down across from her.

"Carol, I'm sorry I walked out on you. I didn't mean to get your hopes up. I thought that maybe I could get myself to give you my kidney, but I just couldn't. I know I'm a grown man, but I guess I'm still a little scared," he said right off the bat before he lost his nerve. "Okay, a _lot_ bit scared."

"Oh, don't even worry about it," Carol said, hitting the air with her hand. "I'm sorry. I asked you. It wasn't right of me to cone waltzing into town asking for your kidney—especially after ignoring you for many years. Also, I wasn't there for Chase the way I should have been. He needed me more than ever when you 'died' and I abandoned him. Then there was the thing with Mom and Dad…"

Aiden shook his head. "That wasn't your fault. I accept that now. Yes, you should have been more responsible, but what happened was beyond anyone's control. It was just their time to go."

"Aiden, look. I've grown up a lot since then. I don't even drink as much anymore, believe it or not. Nor do I jump from guy to guy. I'm trying to be more responsible. I just need a little practice. Growing up can suck," Carol said.

Aiden smirked. "No one ever said growing up was fun."

Carol laughed. "As a kid all you want to do is grow up, then when you get older, all you want to do is revert back to being a kid."

"The grass isn't always greener," Aiden quipped.

Carol nodded. "Aint that the truth!" She then grew more serious. "I was afraid I'd mess Chase up even more if I took him under my wing. I honestly thought Hope, being more mature, and being a cop would be able to turn him into a way better man than I ever could. I didn't want him to be like me. I also knew that if you loved Hope enough to marry her, then she _must_ be a wonderful lady."

"I don't always make good decisions when it comes to women. Hope is wonderful, but I was dumb enough to marry Meredith," Aiden quipped.

Carol smiled, and gently rubbed his hand from across the table. "And you got a wonderful son out of the marriage."

Aiden nodded, a smile playing on his lips. "True." His expression turned solemn. "And look, I get it now…why you didn't take Chase. I appreciate you wanting a better life for him. But I don't get why you didn't come to his funeral, or even Mom's and Dad's."

"Guilt. It was guilt in both cases. Running away is something else I need to work on. I felt guilty for being late picking mom up. I felt responsible for hers and dad's deaths. I felt like I didn't deserve to be at their funeral when I was the reason they were dead to begin with. As for Chase, it was the same thing. Had I taken Chase, he never would have become so lost."

"Carol, I never knew you felt that way," Aiden said; instantly feeling badly for all the year he had judged her.

"Well, I'm not very good with displaying my feelings." Carol smirked. "Also, you weren't exactly open to letting me explain when I first got here."

Aiden nodded. "Guilty as charged. I'm sorry."

"Let's make a deal. We start over. We talk to each other more. We, communicate better." Carol squeezed Aiden's hands in her own from across the table. "Most importantly, we're there for each other no matter what." She raised an eyebrow. "Deal?"

Aiden raised an eyebrow of his own. "Is this your way of guilting me into giving you my kidney?"

Carol rolled her eyes. "Aiden, please stop thinking everything I do is me having an ulterior motive. I know I've given you reason to believe that in the past, but I promise you, I just want to make emends with my brother. Needing a kidney has made me realize how short life is. Your son died, so you know all about life being short. I don't want to die knowing we're still at odds. I don't even _want_ your kidney anymore!"

Aiden raised an eyebrow again. "You don't?"

Carol shook her head. "No because you don't want to give it to me. All I want from you now is your forgiveness and your love. I mean it."

Aiden nodded. "All right. I'm sorry. Force of habit being suspicious of you I guess."

Carol smiled. "Don't worry. I don't blame you after the way I've acted in the past. I won't hold it against you." She winked at him.

"And of coruse I forgive and love you. You're my sister," he said.

Carol got up and slid in next to him in the booth. She gave him a big hug. "I love you too." She rested her head on his shoulder.

Aiden wrapped an arm around her a little hesitantly. This felt weird. She was his sister, and he knew it shouldn't feel weird, but it did. Even so, he rested his head against hers and gave her a gentle squeeze. He supposed it did feel good to have his sister back in his life and their issues resolved. The only problem was now, was how much more guilty he felt now by not giving her his kidney.

 _ **~*came back to me*~**_

They had a nice lunch, and then Carol had to leave. Aiden insisted on paying for her meal. He felt it was the very least he could do for her.

She thanked him, then after they both stood up, she hugged him and kissed his cheek. "I'll see you later. I love you."

He hugged her tightly. "I love you too." He kissed her cheek.

She smiled and waved to him, then left.

Aiden sighed, then sat back down in the booth, not knowing what he was going to do.

"You look bummed. What's wrong with you?"

Aiden looked up to see Lucas standing at his table. "Oh, just the usual. My sister needs a kidney to survive, and I'm a perfect match, yet I'm still too scared to give her mine."

Lucas winced. "Ouch!" He sat down across from Aiden. "And I thought I was having a bad day!"

Aiden raised an eyebrow. "Mother issues?"

Lucas raised an eyebrow of his own. "How did you know?"

"I know Kate," Aiden said simply.

Lucas nodded in understanding. "Enough said."

They both laughed.

"I didn't even know you had a sister," Lucas stated.

"We were kind of at odds for a couple of years. We're just starting to resolve our issues," Aiden explained. "I love her, and I don't want to see her die, but I'm not ready to give up a vital organ that I may need one day, or that Hope or the kids could need one day."

Lucas nodded. "I totally understand. My kid is the only one I'd ever give my kidney to without a thought! It sounds to me like you have the same kind of relationship with your sister as I have with my mother. I love my mom, but I don't know if I'd give her a kidney. I guess in the end the guilt would get to me. I mean, I chances are I won't ever need it back. People live perfectly fine with just one kidney. If I ever needed it down the road, I could just deal with it then. I mean, knowing I saved my mom's life would be worth the risk, I guess? "One surgery for me, and one for my mother, then the worst part is done and over with and more than likely my mother would live."

Aiden nodded. "I never really thought of it that way. But what if I give it and my sister rejects it?"

Lucas shrugged. "Then it may feel like a waste, but at least you will have done your part, and you won't be kicking yourself later knowing that you didn't do everything in your power to save your dying sister."

"I see your point," Aiden said.

"Well, my order's up. I just got some chowder to go. But it was nice talking to you man." Lucas stood up and offered his hand.

Aiden stood up and shook his hand. "Thank you for the talk. You really helped me to clear my head."

"I'm glad I could help," Lucas said.

"I hope things work out with you and your mother," Aiden replied.

Lucas hit the air with his hand. "It's just what my mother and I do. We have a love-hate relationship. We'll be hugging it out by tomorrow and at each other's throats again by next week!"

Aiden laughed. "Well, if ever you need someone to vent to, you know where to find me."

Lucas nodded. "Thank you. I appreciate that. I'll hit you up sometime. I don't really have that many friends outside of Adrienne."

Aiden nodded. "Same here with me. I don't have many friends outside of Hope."

"We'll do lunch sometime. Catch you later!" Lucas said, before heading up to the bar to collect and pay for his order.

"I think I'll take you up on that," Aiden said to himself as he left the tip on the table and grabbed his coat off the hanger. He put his coat back on.

As he left the restaurant, he finally knew what he had to do. He couldn't let Carol die! Not if he could help it. After all she was his sister! His own flesh and blood. It had to be done. He didn't have a choice. He would call her up and tell her the good news after he talked to Hope. He would tell Carol that he was going to give her his kidney.


	38. S2E13

_**This Love…**_

 _ **Season 2 Episode 13: Suspicious Minds**_

"Carol, where are you taking me?" Aiden asked as he blindly walked up a flight of stairs. "I only have an hour before my next meeting. It's a very important client!"

"Will you relax? It's a surprise. You're going to love it!" Carol assured him.

Aiden could hear her unlocking a door. He tugged at the black blindfold Carol had insisted he wore from the moment he had gotten into her car. She had picked him up at work and told him to come with her to see a surprise she had for him.

"No peaking!" She said, pulling his hands away from the blindfold.

"I can't help it! It's so tight it's cutting off my brain waves," Aiden overdramatized.

"That would require you to have a brain, my dear brother," Carol teased.

" _Ha, ha_ , very funny. I mean it, Carol. I'm starting to get a headache."

"Will you relax? I had to make sure it was tight enough where you wouldn't be able to peak. Just a second more and I'll be ready for you to see."

Aiden heard her fumbling with the lock, then finally, he heard a door open.

"Up just one more tiny step," Carol instructed, her arms guiding him from behind.

Aiden stepped up the step as instructed, then he heard a door shut behind him. Finally, he felt Carol behind him. "Are you ready to see your surprise?" she asked.

"I've _been_ ready!" Aiden said; grumpy from having his head squeezed from the blindfold.

"You take all the fun out of surprises," Carol grumbled.

"That's because I hate surprises," Aiden quipped. "This better not be an April Fool's joke. You used to play such mean ones on me. Like that time you convinced me I was adopted when you showed me the adoption papers. I cried for a week and wouldn't believe Mom and Dad when they told me you were lying. Mainly because you secretly kept telling me they just didn't want my feelings to be hurt."

"Well, think of it this way, at least now you're a lawyer and know a forgery when you see one!" Carol joked. She took off his blindfold.

Aiden looked around. He was in a huge office with two floors. Everything appeared to be furnished. "What is this?"

Carol smiled at him. "Don't you recognize it from the inside? It's the office building I bought for you! You told me before you didn't want to have to go through all the trouble of having another building set up and furnished, so I hired some people to help me and I got your new law office set up for you so that you don't have to do it."

Aiden could hardly believe his eyes or ears. He looked at her. "How did you have time for all this when you were busy worrying about your kidney?"

Carol shrugged. "I had nothing else to do during the day. I welcomed the distraction. And before you suggest it, this is not a bribe for your kidney. Trust me, I know that ship has sailed. This is just me wanting to do something nice for my brother, and my wanting to make up for all those years I was a crappy sister to you. Though, come to think of it, you got me back for that April Fool's Joke when you put that snake in my clothes hamper! I was afraid to look in my hamper for _weeks_! Even after you released the snake back into the woods."

"I got grounded for a week because of that. Whereas you had only gotten a scolding for convincing me I was adopted," Aiden grumbled.

Carol grinned. "I was just a teenager girl picking on her little eight-year-old brother."

Aiden rolled his eyes. "And I was just being a little boy, getting revenge on his sister." He then looked through the rooms. There were about five different private office rooms set up with phones, intercoms, and computers. There was also a bathroom with a toilet, sink, mirror, hand dryer, and paper towel dispenser. The main room was filled with a couple different printers and fax machines. There was a desk for a secretary, and the desk also had a computer and telephone on it. There were intercoms set up in each room. One room even had a fridge, a microwave, a table and chairs, and a couch. There was also a sink and cupboards, making a nice little break room.

"Carol, how rich are you exactly?" Aiden asked her.

"Rich enough," Carol told him with a wink and a sly smile. "I decorated based off the style of your current office since I knew it must be the style you prefer. Do you want to go see the upstairs?"

Aiden nodded.

They headed up the stairs. There was a huge room with a window that took up most of the front wall. There was a long table that ran along the length of the room. An intercom was installed and there was a projector and phone in the room as well.

"I figured this could be your conference room," Carol told him.

They continued to look around. There were two more offices, and another break room, and finally a bathroom just like the one below.

"There's one more thing to show you. It's the star of the show. Well, it will be once _you_ get through with it, I'm sure." She opened up a door, and they headed up a long staircase. When they got to the top of the staircase, there was one more door.

Carol opened it and walked into the room.

Aiden walked in behind her and saw a room with no furniture. It was the room that had made him fall in love with the building in the first place. It was the enclosed rooftop with glass for walls.

"I figured I'd let you decorate up here since it is your place after all. You know what Hope likes better than I do. I was thinking it could be yours and Hope's special place for when she visits you at work, or if you ever just want a getaway without having to leave Salem," Carol explained. She nodded to a side wall. "I even got it set up where it can have a hot tub if you want one."

"For real?" Aiden asked, his eyes lighting up.

Carol laughed. "For real."

"Not an April Fool's joke?" Aiden asked, an eyebrow raised.

Carol shook her head. "Not an April Fool's joke."

Aiden was so overwhelmed, his eyes welled up with tears. He hugged her tightly. "Thank you, Carol. I can't believe you spend this much money on me, and went to all the trouble for me!"

She was caught by surprise, but hugged him back once she got over the shock. "I owe it to you. I know you might not believe this because of the way I've acted in the past, but I love you. You're my little brother, and I love making you happy."

Aiden squeezed her tighter, and took a moment to compose himself. He then released her. "I guess it's time we get this building transferred over to me, huh?"

Carol nodded. "Then you can make this room all nice and romantic for Hope!"

"Can I at least pay you back…for some of it at the very least if not all?" he asked her.

Carol shook her head. "Nope! Consider it a gift! Do you like the color scheme and the way I put things together?"

Aiden nodded. "You remembered that navy blue and silver are my favorite colors!"

Carol nodded. "How could I forget? When you were fifteen, you went through a phase where those were the only colors you'd wear! I figured the silver furniture and navy walls with silver trim would be to your liking. It's hard to find silver leather, so the computer chairs are technically grey, but you can hardly tell the difference."

"It's perfect. Thank you, so much, Carol!" Aiden said. He wanted to tell her he was going to give her his kidney, but he didn't want to tell her now. He wanted to wait to tell her at dinner. "I was thinking, maybe tonight we could do dinner together with Hope? There's something I want to tell you."

"Sure! I was actually going to invite _you_ to dinner," Carol confessed. "Ironically enough, I have something to tell you too."

"Sure! Anywhere in particular you'd like to eat?" Aiden asked her.

"Actually, there is. I was thinking maybe, the Dimera mansion?" Carol asked, wincing ahead of time because she already knew what his reaction would be.

Aiden laughed. "April Fool's, right?"

Carol shook her head. "I'm dating Andre now, and he would really like for us all to have dinner together. His cooks are amazing. You'll like it!"

"It's not the food I'm worried about; it's the company. I really wish you wouldn't date him."

"Come on, Aiden! He's really good to me! Just have one dinner with us. Please? Not that you owe me anything, but I would consider this paying me back for your new office if you do this for me." She batted her eyelashes at him and placed her hands on his shoulder. "Pretty please?"

Aiden looked into her pleading eyes and sighed. It wasn't exactly the place he had in mind for telling her he'd give her his kidney, but it would have to do. After all she just did for him, he couldn't say no to her. "Fine. But this is a one-time thing. You understand that, right?"

Carol squealed with delight and clapped her hands. "Yes! Thank you! Just one time." She kissed his cheek. "Now let's go get some subs for lunch before your meeting."

Aiden nodded, then headed out ahead of her. He could only hope that Hope wouldn't kill him for agreeing to this dinner at the Dimera's. After all, she was not going to be pleased. That was something he knew for sure.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

 __"I still can't believe I let you talk me into this. For all we know he plans on poisoning our food!" Hope grumbled as Aiden rang the doorbell.

"I'm sorry to put you in this position. It's just that after all Carol did for me, I felt guilty telling her no. Forgive me?" Aiden asked, taking her hand and kissing it.

Hope sighed. "Isn't giving her your kidney enough of a thanks?"

Aiden gently rubbed her back. "She doesn't know yet. I want to surprise her tonight. I'd rather it not be here, but this is what she wants, so…"

Hope sighed again. "Fine. But this is a one-time thing!"

Aiden nodded. "I already made sure that was clear to her."

Hope held him close and rested her forehead against his. "You can make it up to me later tonight by putting me in a much more pleasurable position," she teased.

He moaned. "Baby, you can count on it!"

Just then the door opened. Harold stood there, looking rather dapper. "Welcome, Mr. Jennings and Miss Brady! Please, come in."

Aiden politely greeted Harold, as did Hope, then they entered the mansion.

"May I take your jackets?" Harold asked.

"Thank you," Hope said as Harold took her jacket from her.

"Yes, thank you," Aiden said, handing Harold his jacket.

"Mr. Dimera is waiting for you in the parlor," Harold said to them, gesturing to the main room.

Hope snickered. "Since when has anyone ever called it the parlor?" she murmured to Aiden.

Aiden smirked.

When they entered the "parlor", they found Andre standing by the fireplace, waiting for them.

Andre grinned brightly upon their arrival. "Welcome! I hope you all brought your appetites."

"Where's Carol?" Aiden asked, not even bothering to greet him in return.

"She'll be here in due time. She is currently getting her hair done," Andre said simply. "Do you care for a drink while we wait?"

"Just water please," Hope requested.

"I'm fine for now, thanks," Aiden said.

Harold came in and poured Hope a glass of water from the drink tray.

"Thank you," Hope said as she took the water from him. She then sat down on the couch, and Aiden sat down next to her.

"Dinner will be ready as soon as Miss. Jennings arrives," Harold announced.

"Thank you, Harold," Andre said as Harold left.

"So, where are Abigail, Chad, and Thomas?" Hope asked.

"They are away at Disney World. Little Thomas has never been before," Andre said simply.

Hope smiled weakly. "That's nice. I'm sure he'll love it."

"Yes, I'm sure he will. Thank you two for joining Carol and I for dinner tonight," Andre replied.

"We're here for Carol and only Carol," Hope said.

"Hope…" Aiden wasn't Andre's biggest fan either, but he didn't want to be rude to his sister's boyfriend. He didn't want to do anything to upset Carol.

"It's all right. It's understandable. After all, we have a sordid past, Hope and I," Andre said in his slick and smooth tone.

Hope snorted. "That's an understatement!"

"Let's not forget who killed my father," Andre reminded her.

Hope glared at him. "He was found alive."

"What difference does it make? The bottom line is you a least _tried_ to kill him. Then you expected to get away with it. You even went so far as dumping his body like trash, then trying to put the blame on me," Andre snapped.

"Your father _was_ trash, and you're not too far from the tree, or should I say dumpster," Hope shot back.

Andre looked at her as if he wanted to kill her.

"Let's not forget, you made me try to kill Hope, and you also tried to pin strapping Rafe to a bomb on me. We've all done things we're not proud of," Aiden said calmly, trying his best to keep the peace. The last thing his sister needed was to arrive at a battlefield he knew.

"There was no proof of that. Besides, I'm no longer into that old lifestyle I used to live. I prefer to help people these days," Andre said simply.

Hope laughed. "I'll believe that when I see it!"

Andre shot her a look.

Just then, Carol arrived. "Hello! So sorry I'm late." She came in wearing a long tan and white faux fur coat, and a red dress with red heels. She was now sporting a choppy blonde hairdo that went to the middle of her neck. She primped her hair. "Hair appointments take so long nowadays! Then I had to change. I hope you weren't waiting too long?" she said as Harold took her coat from her.

Aiden stood up and greeted her with a hug and a kiss on the cheek. "Only about five minutes or so. No big deal."

Hope smiled at her. "Hello, Carol. I love the new hair."

Carol grinned. "Why thank you!" She walked over to Andre and kissed him.

Aiden and Hope both made a disgusted face at each other, then smiled.

"Do you like it?" Carol asked Andre.

"You look even more ravishing than you did before," Andre told her.

Carol smiled brightly. "Thank you!"

Aiden felt his heart melt a little. At least Andre was apparently treating his sister right. Even so, he still didn't like the idea of her dating him. Aside from maybe Chad, Dimeras couldn't be trusted.

"Shall we head into the dining room for dinner now?" Andre asked.

"Yes! I'm starved," Carol said.

So, they all headed into the dining room.

Hope looked around. She had never been in the dining room before. The walls were blood red with a black damask print. She felt like she was in a vampire's dining room. She wasn't quite sure that dinner with Andre would be any less sinister than if she really were to dine with a vampire.

Aiden held her chair out for her. She smiled at him. "Who says chivalry is dead?" She kissed him quickly on the lips, then sat down.

He smiled, then pushed her chair back in. He sat down next to her once he saw that Andre had already held out Carol's chair for her.

Once they were all seated, Harold brought out the food that the cooks had made. There was an antipasto salad with a various selections of dressings. There was also a basket of Italian bread with butter, meat lasagna, and green beans.

"Mm! This all looks so good!" Carol said as she dug in without waiting for anyone else.

"Carol, wait! Let Andre eat first," Hope said to her. She looked Andre in the eyes. "We need to make sure he didn't poison the food."

Andre rolled his eyes. "Oh, please, Hope! If I wanted to poison you, I'd lace your plate with the poison." He smirked. "Or I'd wait until I've gained your trust then poison your dessert."

Hope narrowed her eyes at him, then switched their plates just to be safe.

Andre chuckled. "Maybe I knew you'd do that and you just took the poisoned plate!"

Carol rolled her eyes. "Oh, Andre, stop fooling around!" She took Andre's plate and replaced it with her own. She then looked at Hope. "He'd never allow me to be poisoned." She winked and smiled at her, then filled her new plate with food.

"I wouldn't be so sure of that," Hope grumble, but loaded her plate up anyway when she saw both Andre and Carol eating with no repercussions.

When they were in the middle of dinner, Aiden decided that it would be the perfect time to tell Carol that he would be her donor.

"Carol, I have to tell you something," he said.

Carol grinned at him. "Funny, I was just about to tell _you_ something!"

Aiden nodded at her. "Ladies first!"

"All right." She looked at Aiden. "Andre is going to help me find a donor!"

Andre nodded. "Actually, I was able to pull some strings, and was able to get her on the top of the list. They found someone for her who is a perfect match."

Carol looked at him, her eyes wide and her mouth open in shock. "You found someone already?"

Andre nodded. "He's gotten all the tests and, compared to your medical records, he's a perfect match! His name is Casey Michelson, and he is forty-years old and as fit as it gets. We can start preparing for your transplant as soon as you're ready."

Carol squealed with delight. "Oh my gosh, you're the best!" She jumped out of her chair, ran over to Andre, and hugged him tightly. "Thank you so much!"

"Anything for you, my little dessert rose," Andre said to her.

They kissed.

Hope and Aiden looked at each other, and then at the happy couple.

Aiden felt his heart sink. His thunder had been stolen from him. He didn't know whether to be angry, relived, or suspicious. The truth was, he was a little bit of each.


	39. S2E14

_**This Love…**_

 _ **Season 2 Episode 14: Celebration**_

"Carol, can I please talk to you in private?" Aiden asked after clearing his throat.

Carol looked at him in surprise. "Sure. We can talk out in the parlor."

Hope grabbed onto Aiden's sleeve and whispered in his ear. "Don't leave me here alone with him."

"Oh, Hope, relax! I'm not going to bite," Andre said with an eye roll.

Hope glared at him; angry that he had overheard her despite the fact that she had whispered. "What? Do you have supersonic hearing or something?"

Andre grinned. "You could say that." He winked at her.

"You can come. You already know what I'm going to say to her anyway," he murmured to Hope.

"Aiden, why don't you just tell me here?" Carol reasoned. "What would it hurt? Andre and I have no secrets between us."

Hope laughed. "Are you sure about that?"

Aiden sighed. He supposed Andre would find out anyway. "Fine. What I had to tell you tonight was that I have decided to give you my kidney. You don't need to take a kidney from someone who should have been on the waiting list next."

"Oh, I wouldn't worry about that. I can assure you, Carol is in more need of one than the person who was next on the list," Andre assured her.

Hope raised an eyebrow at him. "So now you're illegally peaking at someone else's hospital records?" She shook her head. "Unbelievable!"

Andre rolled his eyes. "Oh, Hope, don't be so dramatic! I have a connection at the hospital who happens to be a doctor, and therefore has the legal right to go over the records."

"But they don't have the right to share them with you, no do they have the right to switch the order on a donor list," Hope said defiantly.

"They do if the organ is a gift meant for someone specific," Andre shot back. "At least the latter part of what you said."

Hope shook her head. "This isn't right."

"Tell, me, Hope. Why is it that it is okay for you or one of your friends or family to commit a crime, but the second you think someone else might have committed one—even if it's a lesser crime than what you committed—you think they must pay or burn in hell?" Andre asked dryly.

Hope was silent for a moment as she glared at him. Finally, she answered. "At least some people have remorse for what they did. Others just keep doing the crime."

Andre laughed. "Funny! You didn't seem to have any remorse for shooting my father to death! Yes, _death_ because I'm still not entirely sure he's not really dead. After all, I saw the body, which you threw away like trash in a building you knew was going to be blown up. And let's not forget how you tried to frame me for my own father's murder."

Hope shrugged. "Let's face it. After all you and your father did you my family, both you and your father had it coming to you."

"So, no remorse. It seems they never should have let you slither out of prison," Andre said.

Hope looked like she wanted to kill him. Even Carol sensed it.

"Okay, none of this is helping!" Carol turned her attention back to her brother. "Aiden, I appreciate you offering to give me your kidney. In fact, I appreciate it more than you know. But I know you don't really want to give it to me. You're only doing this because you feel obligated."

"I'm doing it because I love you and don't want to lose you!" Aiden assured her.

Carol shook her head. "I know, and I love you for that, but since I have this other willing donor now, I just can't take your kidney. I'd never forgive myself for taking your kidney when I knew there was another option. You may need that kidney down the road, or one of your children could. Heck, you may even be a match for Hope if she were to ever need one. I just can't do that to you or your future family."

"You're my family too," Aiden reminded her.

Carol nodded. "Always. But I'm not taking your kidney. End of discussion. Casey is willing to give me his, and I'm going to take it."

Aiden sighed. One thing he knew well from his sister despite the years and years of not being close, was that when she decided a conversation or argument was over, it was over. She wasn't going to take his kidney.

"Who offers their kidney to waiting list patients anyway? Aren't the kidneys given to the people on the donor lists complied of organ donors who have passed on?" Hope asked suspiciously.

Andre shook his head. "Apparently not!"

As they had been discussing it, the maids had come out and cleared their plates. Now, the cook was binging out the dessert—cherries jubilee.

Carol squealed with delight and clapped her hands like a child at a circus for the first time. "Cherries Jubilee! My absolute favorite! Oo, I just love seeing the flames!"

"Which is precisely why I had the cooks make it and bring it out here still flaming," Andre said to her with a proud grin.

The blue flames rose high and after a brief moment, the cook shook the pan until the flames went back down. He then dished them each a generous helping, then topped it off with a vanilla ice cream. "Enjoy!" he said.

"Funny. I see this relationship going up in flames too," Hope muttered.

Aiden snickered.

However, Carol and Andre seemed to be too wrapped up in each other to have taken notice to neither them, nor their snark.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

 __After what seemed like an eternity, it was finally time to leave.

Carol was staying with Andre for a little while longer. Aiden knew that was probably code for staying the night, but he preferred not to think about that.

"Good night, Gatoraide," Carol said as she hugged her brother. She kissed his cheek, then playfully mussed up his hair. "Sorry. I know you hate when I call you that."

Aiden rolled his eyes, but smiled at her. "Since you're my sister, you may call me that. But only _you_ can call me that!"

"You know it! I'll whip anyone's ass who tries to call you it," Carol said.

"Oo maybe _I_ should call him Gatoraide then," Andre joked.

Aiden shot him the death glare, and Carol giggled.

Andre held his hands up. "Relax! I was only joking. Don't be so sensitive!"

Aiden looked away. Looking at Andre only annoyed him more.

Andre then turned more serious. "Anyway, thank you two for joining us. Hope, I'm sorry for our little tiff. I am trying so hard to be nicer. I guess old habits die hard, aye?"

Hope looking from Andre to Carol, who had a hopeful smile on her face, relaxed a bit. She would be civil for Carol's sake and Carol's sake only. "Thank you for having us. Dinner was delicious. It's fine. I'm sorry too for being rude about you and for father."

"For Carol's sake, I think we can both agree to let bygones be bygones. Right?" Andre asked as he gently rubbed Carol's back.

Carol grinned brightly.

Hope smiled weakly and nodded her head. "Sure."

Aiden helped Hope with her coat, then put his own back on. He then gave Carol one more hug. "I will see you later." He nodded at Andre. "Thank you for having us. Like Hope said, dinner was delicious. Also, thank you for finding my sister a donor."

"Don't mention it," Andre said with a polite nod. "I couldn't let the love of my life die, now could I?" He smiled at Carol who was beaming back at him.

Aiden nodded. He put a hand over Hope's back, then the two of them left after exchanging brief goodbyes with Harold.

As soon as the door was closed behind them, Hope let out a cry of relief. "Ugh! Thank God that dinner from hell is over. I was two seconds away from pummeling Andre."

Aiden smirked. "Now that I would have loved to have seen!"

"I'm only civil to him for Carol's sake. I know she's your sister, but seriously, what does she see in that guy?" Hope asked.

Aiden sighed, and shrugged his shoulders. "Who knows? Carol has always been known for her bad taste in guys. I want better for her, but like with the kidney, I have no control over her. She has a mind of her own. Once she gets her mind set on something, there's no stopping her or changing her mind. It's just the way it's always been and probably always will be unfortunately."

"I'm still not buying this whole kidney thing. Donors just don't appear out of thin air. I'm willing to bet anything that this transplant isn't on the up and up," Hope said as Aiden opened the car door for her. "I don't think it's right that someone should be able to jump the waiting list. I know she's your sister, but I still feel badly for the recipient who should be receiving it."

Aiden shut her door, then got in on the driver's side. He shut his door and fastened his seatbelt. "Oh I agree with you a hundred percent! But maybe this Casey person wouldn't have given his kidney otherwise. I don't even think he was on a list to donate his kidney to anyone who needs it. Knowing Andre, he paid someone to give Carol their kidney."

"Or forced." Hope looked at Aiden. "I think I need to do some investigating on this Casey Michelson. I need to make sure he isn't being killed for a kidney."

Aiden nodded. "That might be a good idea. Carol is very naïve when it comes to men. She says she's learned from her past mistakes, but dating Andre Dimera, I'm not so sure she has. Killing someone for a kidney, or hiring someone to kill for a kidney sounds right up Andre's alley." He looked at Hope. "Are you going to put Shawn on it since you are on maternity leave?"

Hope smirked at him. "I'll get him to do the dirty work, but if we find out Andre really did get someone killed to give Carol a kidney, then I can't make any promises of staying out of it."

Aiden looked at her. "Baby, if we find out Andre is a murderer, and therefore too dangerous to be dating my sister, I'll go after him myself!"

Hope shot him a concerned look. "Leave it to me and my fellow officers, all right? I don't want you getting hurt. Our babies need you. _I_ need you. Besides, as loathsome as Andre is, I don't think he'd hurt your sister. He truly does seem to care about her in his own twisted way."

Aiden sighed. "I suppose you're right." He tightened his fists on the steering wheel. "But I still don't trust Andre. Not one iota!"

Hope looked straight ahead. "Trust me; neither do I."

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

"Are you all right?" Aiden asked as he gently rubbed Hope's back. They were in the hospital room, waiting for Kayla to come in and give her the sonogram that would tell them what the gender of the twins would be. It was the second week in April, and therefore they could finally find out for sure what they were having.

Hope looked at him and smiled, though Aiden could see that it was forced, and that she had sadness in her eyes. "I'm fine," she said not very convincingly.

"You miss Ciara, and you wish she could be here with you for the gender reveal like originally planned," Aiden stated.

Hope nodded. "I can't believe it's been a month since I've seen her! I wanted her to be here with us. I wanted her to be excited with us!"

"Well, she may not be with us to find out the genders, but you can still fly down to see her and make amends. Maybe you can even find some cute way to reveal the genders to her and Skylar. I bet she'd appreciate the gesture," Aiden suggested.

Hope looked away. "I just wish Skylar didn't have to be there!"

Aiden sighed, and gently stroked her hair. "Baby, like it or not, Ciara is with Skylar. Now, whether it's just a phase, or for the long-run, if you want your relationship with Ciara to improve, you're going to have to accept Skylar, or at the very least be civil to her."

Hope looked at him. "I can at least try." She smiled weakly. "I'll try to at least like Skylar as a person. It isn't going to happen overnight if at all, me accepting her as Ciara's girlfriend, but I can start by liking Skylar at least. Right?"

Aiden nodded. "Right!"

"Will you come with me?" Hope asked.

"Baby, I'd love to, but I have too many important client meetings. I know Carol would help me out, but I want to be able to afford the bills for my new law firm all on my own. That means working, and not risking losing important customers." Aiden kissed the top of her head. "But the next time you visit her, I will come with you. I promise!"

"Maybe it's best it's just me now anyway," Hope said.

Aiden nodded. "I agree. It's between the three of you. I mean, if you really need me I can always try to reschedule, but…" He trailed off.

Hope shook her head. "It's fine. I'll book my flight as soon as we get home."

Just then, Kayla came in with a cheery smile. "Are you ready to find out what you're having?" she asked.

Hope and Aiden both grinned.

"You bet!" Aiden said.

"I'm so excited!" Hope said, sincerely cheered up now.

"Okay! Let's get to it then!" Kayla said. She set everything up for the sonogram, then, after applying the gel to Hope's stomach, she moved the transducer probe over it.

"Does everything look okay with them?" Aiden asked after a moment.

Kayla grinned at them. "They are both coming along just nicely! I can also get a clear picture of the genders. Which you will find out tonight at the party at the Martin Mansion. I think it's cute you're having the gender reveal party where you got married. Not that that ended well, but…"

"Things change. Anyway, it was still the best moment of my life when I got to marry the woman of my dreams. I can only hope she'll give me a second chance and let me marry her again one day soon," Aiden said.

Hope took his hand and kissed it. "Good things come to those who wait," she said with a smirk and a wink.

Kayla turned the machine off, and wiped the excess gel off of Hope's stomach for her. "I will see you guys tonight at the gender reveal party. I will also give you the sonogram picture then. I don't want you two getting any spoilers." She smiled and winked at them.

"Not that we could make anything out of the picture anyway," Aiden said as he helped Hope up. "Even with the 3-D ones, it's hard to tell."

Hope shrugged. "I might be able to tell. After all, I've definitely had my share of ultra sound pictures!"

"You'll just have to wait! It will take away the fun if you look too early," Kayla said with another smile. "But you can be rest assured the twins are healthy so far."

"That's always good to know," Hope said, rubbing her stomach and smiling. "Thank God!"

"I have to make my rounds now, but I will see you both tonight!" Kayla hugged Hope tightly, then pat Aiden's shoulder and left.

"I still don't think she likes me, though she _is_ nicer to me than anyone else in Salem," Aiden quipped as they left.

Hope latched onto his arm. "Give her time." She kissed his cheek. "She'll come around."

Aiden kissed her cheek in return, then they got into the elevator so that they could leave the hospital and head to lunch.

 _ **~*came back to me*~**_

The party had been nice. There was dancing, and a big catered dinner, compliments of Chez Rouge. There was even a chocolate cake with pink and blue frosting with the words _It's a….?_ written across it in yellow.

"All right! Before we all cut into the cake, let's find out the genders. Shall we?" Shawn asked as he and Carol brought carried over to card board boxes with the lids taped closed.

"You each get a box containing balloons that are of the appropriate color. Aiden, you will have the gender of one twin, and Hope, you will have the gender of the other," Carol explained as she set her box down in front of Aiden.

Shawn set his down in front of Hope.

Hope and Aiden grinned at each other.

"Is everyone ready to find out the genders?" Shawn called out.

Everyone cheered.

"All right then. Hope, you go first, then Aiden," Carol ordered.

So, with shaky hands, Hope tore off the tape, then opened her box. As soon as she opened the box, a bunch of helium-filled blue balloons flew out.

"Another boy!" Hope said. "I should have known." She looked at Aiden with a huge excited grin. "You're going to have another son!" She gently rubbed his back.

He smile at her. "It will feel good having a son again; not that he'll ever replace Chase, but I will love him just as much!"

Hope took his hand and kissed it. "Let's see what out other baby is." She released his hand and placed her hands over her womb.

Aiden then nervously opened his own box. He really wanted a girl. He got it un-taped, then paused for just a moment, bracing himself, before finally opening the flaps. To his great delight, out popped a bunch of helium-filled pink balloons. "A daughter! I'm finally getting a daughter!" he said.

Hope grinned big. " _We_ are, she corrected him."

"Come here!" he said to her, patting his lap.

Hope got up from her chair and sat in his lap.

" _We_ are," he corrected himself as he pulled her close and kissed her passionately. "I love you so much, Baby," he said, his forehead rested against hers. "I already love our babies so much I feel my heart will burst!"

Hope gently stroked his cheek. "Me too," she said, grinning so brightly. All her troubles with Ciara were temporarily forgotten.

They kissed some more as everyone either awed or cheered.

"Now let's celebrate!" Carol said as she popped in a CD and a song called "Happy Boys and Girls" came on.

"Oh, Carol, that is awful! It sounds like whoever is singing it just had a pound of sugar and is bouncing off the walls!" Aiden said with a laugh.

Hope nodded. "That sure is a sugary sweet pop song!" she agreed, laughing as well.

Carol shrugged. "It's Aqua! They were popular in the 90s. Don't you remember them?"

Both Aiden and Hope shook their heads.

"Well, I for one loved them and love this song. Besides, it goes along with the boy and girl you're having. So come on! Get up, dance, and celebrate! Whoo!" Carol said, pumping her fists high in the air and dancing like a madwoman.

Hope and Aiden looked at each other as if Carol were crazy, then they got mischievous glints in their eyes and let out a "Whoo" themselves. They then got up and danced with everyone else, so happy to be expecting their perfect baby boy and baby girl.


	40. S2E15

_**This Love…**_

 _ **Season 2 Episode 15: Girlfriend**_

"I hate leaving you on Easter, but this was the cheapest time to fly, believe it or not!" Hope said to Aiden. "Are you going to be all right?" She lovingly stroked some hair out of his eyes.

"Baby, I'll be fine. I'm going to be so busy at work, I'll barely notice you're gone," Aiden assured her with a kiss on the forehead.

Hope raised an eyebrow. "You'll barely notice I'm gone?"

Aiden pulled her closer by the waist. "Baby, you know I'm going to miss you like crazy."

She grinned; much more satisfied with this answer. "I'm going to miss you too," she said, stroking his hair.

They kissed, then she rested her forehead against his. "I hope this all goes well. Ciara was very open to me coming to see her when I called to tell her I was coming. She's excited to spend Easter with me! That's gotta be a good sign. Right?"

Aiden nodded. "That sounds to be like a very good sign! Just remember to stay open-minded about Skylar, all right? The way to win Ciara's heart is through Skylar—at least for now.

Hope held up her hands. "I'll be good! I promise. Trust me, my only intent when it comes to going out there is to repair my relationship with Ciara, and to try to get to know Skylar better."

Aiden kissed her forehead again. "Good!" He then smiled at her. "I bought you something."

Hope blushed. "You already bought me those gorgeous purple tulips. You didn't have to buy me anything else."

"It's just something small," Aiden said to her. He went over to the bench that opened up to store things, and he took out an Easter basket. He then shut the bench and brought it over to her.

Hope raised an eyebrow. "I'm a little old for an Easter basket, don't you think?"

Aiden rolled his eyes. "Don't be a party pooper. Easter baskets can be for adults too. It just depends on what you fill them with!" He winked at her.

Hope smiled. "You're right. I'm sorry." She looked in her basket, and smiled when she saw a cross-shaped chocolate. "This will definitely be devoured on the plane!" she said, with a smile at Aiden, her eyes twinkling.

Aiden grinned. "I thought you might like it."

"A cross word puzzle book… My favorite—Cosmo magazine…. An ITunes gift card?" She raised an eyebrow at Aiden.

"It's to buy more gems for that Fisdom game you're addicted to. I know you always get annoyed when you're trying to beat a level but keep running out of lives and don't have the gems to continue."

Hope grinned and nodded. "That I do!"

"I also thought maybe you could use it on more music for your iPod," Aiden explained.

"You know me so well!" Hope said.

"There's one more thing…" Aiden said, nodding toward the basket.

"Aiden, the ITunes gift card is a hundred dollars. That isn't small. You already spent too much on me, Hope said as she looked in the basket and found a beautiful diamond tennis bracelet. It was silver with diamond crosses all along it. "It's beautiful!" she breathed, taking the necklace out and admiring it in the light. She looked at Aiden. "This isn't small either! You spoil me too much!"

Aiden grinned. "You're the love of my life. It's my job to spoil you." He took the bracelet from her and opened the clasp.

She held out her left wrist and let him put it on her. She then pulled him close and kissed him passionately on the lips. "I love it so much! Thank you so much, my love."

Aiden smiled, and stroked some hair away from her cheek. It represents Christ's resurrection, but it can also represent God bringing you back to me and resurrecting our love. Not that it ever died on my part."

Hope stroked his cheek. "It never really died on my part either—hard as I tried to deny it. Even when I was with Rafe, there was always still a part of my heart that belonged with you. That part eventually became so loud that it brought me back to you."

Aiden's eyes lowered with love for her. He gently stroked her hair, and they kissed a moment more, before Hope broke the kiss.

"I feel bad I didn't get you anything," she said, then resting her forehead against his.

"Baby, you coming back to me is the best thing you ever could have given me, along with our two little bundles of joy." He placed his hands over her stomach.

Hope took his hands and kissed them. "I have to get going or I'll miss my flight!"

Aiden sighed. "I miss you already!" He picked up her bags.

Hope kissed him softly on the lips. "I'll be back before you know it!" she said to him with a smile and a wink.

Aiden smiled back at her, then they left the house and headed to the airport.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

Hope was a little miffed. She arrived at LAX with no Ciara in sight. She grabbed her bag from the luggage carousel, then looked around and saw Skylar walking toward her with no Ciara in sight.

"Miss. Brady! Hi! How was your flight?" Skylar asked.

Hope smiled weakly at her. "It was all right. It went by pretty fast and was a pretty smooth ride for the most part."

"Well, good! I'm glad. Here, let me take your bags for you," Skylar said, taking her suitcase.

"Thanks. Is Ciara in the bathroom?" Hope asked.

"Actually, she is at home, making dinner. She wanted to surprise you by making Easter dinner all by herself! She wouldn't even let me help. She said the best way I could help was to go pick you up."

Hope smirked. "Sounds like my daughter. She always was an independent one!"

Skylar grinned. "That's for sure. Right this way, Miss. Brady. Don't worry. I'm not parked very far. I found a spot right in front!"

Hope decided that in the spirit of both Easter and getting her daughter back, she would make a gesture of good will. "You know what? You can call me Hope. No more of this Miss Brady stuff."

Skylar smiled. "Really?"

Hope smiled too, and nodded. "Really!"

"Thank you, Hope," Skylar said.

"You're welcome!" Hope replied.

Skylar led her through and out of the airport, then to the car. She even loaded Hope's suitcase in the car for her.

Their conversation on the way home wasn't as awkward as Hope had feared it would be. In fact, she even found herself laughing at some of Skylar's new veterinary school stories, like the one where there was a pug who could not stop farting, and needed to go on a medicine that is equivalent to human Gas-X. _Maybe she's not so bad after all…_ Hope thought to herself as they arrived at Ciara's place and Skylar carried her suitcase for her again.

"I like this apartment better than Ciara's old apartment. This one is much more spacious!" Hope said, looking around the living room. "It's a little dark for my taste, but still nice." The walls were painted blood red, and the couch, love seat, and chairs were all black leather.

"The color scheme was Ciara's idea. I have to admit, I was skeptical at first too, but it grew on me," Skylar said with a cheery smile.

Hope raised an eyebrow at her. "Why wouldn't it be all Ciara's idea? Or do you just mean, it's not the landlord's choice?"

"She didn't tell you?" Skylar asked.

"Tell me what?" Hope asked.

Skylar looked a little nervous as she pushed some hair behind ear. "Um…"

Before Skylar could answer, Ciara's voice could be heard. "Hi, Mom."

Hope looked over toward the kitchen doorway, where the sound of Ciara's voice was coming. She literally gasped, for there, standing in the doorway, was Ciara in jeans, a tight fitting black tank top with a green camo jacket over top, and a green camo bandana wrapped around her head. Her hair had been cut so short that Aiden now had hair longer than hers.

"What the hell did you do to your hair?" Hope couldn't help herself. It just came out.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

Ciara rolled her eyes. "It's nice to see you too, Mom."

Hope cleared her throat; suddenly remembering why she was there. "I'm sorry. I was just surprised is all. I thought you loved your long hair."

"I did, but I felt like a change." Ciara walked over to Hope and hugged her. "Happy Easter, Mom. Thank you for coming out."

"Happy Easter, Baby! Thank you for having me," Hope said as she tightly hugged her daughter back. "Dinner smells good."

Ciara grinned. "It's all ready. All you need to do is sit down."

"It's a good thing you didn't inherit my bad cooking gene," Hope joked as Ciara and Skylar led her over to the dining room table, which was filled with delicious looking food.

Ciara grinned. "I took some cooking classes for fun. I figured _someone_ in the family should be good at cooking at least!"

Hope laughed. "Good point!

They all sat down.

Hope then raised an eyebrow. "I'm surprised you had time to take cooking classes. Doesn't veterinary school and working at the animal hospital keep you busy enough?"

Ciara nodded. "It does, but I have free time too. Do you mind saying the prayer, Mom?"

Hope nodded. "Of course!" She then said a brief prayer, thanking The Lord for the food. Then, they all dug in.

"So, how is Aiden?" Ciara asked.

"He's doing well! He has a new office that is beautiful! His sister bought it for him as a surprise."

"Didn't she need his kidney or something?" Ciara asked.

Hope nodded. "Yes. She was able to find a donor through Andre of all people." Hope rolled her eyes. "She is dating him, and Andre claims that he was able to move her up on the list. Casey, the donor, supposedly will only give his kidney to her. The whole situation doesn't make sense. It's very suspicious."

"Just don't go overexerting yourself by looking into it. I want my baby siblings to be healthy! Which by the way, you should know the genders of by now. What are they?" Ciara grinned brightly.

Hope smiled. "Actually, I have a little song I'd like to play for you." She took out her phone, and brought the song up. She then hit play on You Tube and let Ciara and Skylar listen. It was "My Girl" by the Temptations.

"I'm having baby sisters?" Ciara asked. "Finally I won't be the only girl!"

"Congrats!" Skylar said, grinning as well.

"Hold on a second… I have another song for you…" Hope moved over to the next window she had up in You Tube, and pressed play. Mary Wells "My Guy" began to play.

"A girl _and_ a boy?" Skylar asked.

Hope nodded, the smile still on her face. "You got it!"

Ciara nodded. "I can deal with that." She grinned brightly. "So, do you still like the names Madeleine and Haiden?"

Hope nodded. "Aiden and I talked about it, and we decided that we both like those names. We're undecided on the middle names though. However, Aiden mentioned Haiden's middle name being Chase." Hope cleared her throat. "I'm sorry. If that is too uncomfortable for you, we can pick something else if you'd prefer." She stared down at her plate as she moved her food around with her fork.

"You don't need my permission. They aren't my kids," Ciara said simply.

Hope looked at her. "But they're still your sister and brother."

Ciara shrugged. "I don't mind. Really."

They managed to eat their food with small talk about the babies. For dessert, they enjoyed some cherry pie while talking about old Ciara and Shawn stories.

Skylar was laughing at the antics Ciara and Shawn got into as kids. They even played board games after that and had a blast.

Things were going great until Ciara spoke up at the end of one of the games. "I'm sure you must be exhausted, Mom. Whenever you want to sleep, the guest bedroom is at the end of the hall, and the bathroom is just to the right of it."

Hope nodded. "I _am_ getting tried. "Do either of you have to be at school or the animal hospital tomorrow?"

"I have to work, but Ciara has off!" Skylar said.

Ciara nodded. "It can be just you and me, Mom. All day having fun like old times."

Hope grinned. "Sounds great!" She then remembered her promise to be nice to Skylar, and looked at her. "Maybe we can all get together for dinner and a movie when you get out of work."

"That would be fun!" Skylar agreed.

Ciara looked pleased. "She gets out at five, so we'll have plenty of time."

"We should let you head home now so that you can be well-rested for work. What time do you have to get up? Eight?" Hope asked Skylar.

Skylar nodded. "Yes, eight." She gave Ciara a look.

"What?" Hope asked.

Ciara looked at Hope. "Skylar and I live together now, and we also share a room. It was cheaper just to live together in this rented house than it is to have two apartments."

Hope nodded. "I can understand that, but why one room?"

"We're adults, Mom. And it's not your house. We can sleep wherever we'd like," Ciara said firmly, yet gently, clearly not wanting to upset her mother, but still wanting to get her point across.

Hope took a deep breath and slowly let it out. She didn't love the fact that her daughter and her girlfriend shared a room and probably did more than sleep in said room, but she still held her cool. "So, what should we do tomorrow? Do you have anything in mind?" Hope asked Ciara, trying to change the subject.

Ciara smiled. "Actually, I want to get a tattoo. I thought it would be cool for you to come along with me."

Hope's eyes practically bugged out of her head. "A tattoo? You're kidding, right?"

Ciara shook her head. "No, I really want to get another one. They are addicting!"

" _Another_ one?" Hope practically shouted.

Ciara nodded. "I already got one in memory of Dad. I didn't show you yet because I got it when we weren't talking." She took off her camo jacket and revealed a picture of Bo's face smiling down from Heaven at a motorcycle.

Hope's mouth dropped open. It practically covered her whole bicep!

"Do you like it?" Ciara asked with a grin.

"It's…quite large," Hope said, not wanting to be rude since it was in memory of Bo, but finding it extremely ugly and tacky. As handsome as she found Bo, and as good of a likeness the tattoo was, it looked stupid—especially on her daughter's arm. "It's a great likeness though! Your father and his favorite thing. Well, after us that is." She weakly smiled.

"Tomorrow I want to get a heart with mine and Skylar's initials in it. Skylar already has one. I got my Dad one when she got hers."

Skylar turned around and bent the back of her jeans waistband down to show Hope the heart and initials.

"But you guys haven't been dating that long. Isn't it a little early for tattooing each other's initials on yourselves?" Hope asked. She felt faint.

Ciara shook her head. "Not at all!"

Skylar snorted. "Besides, it's too late now. Isn't it?" She grinned.

"What made you even want a tattoo anyway?" Hope asked Ciara. "They never interested you before."

Ciara shrugged. "Skylar has like ten of them. She inspired me to want to get one."

"Well, I'm sorry, but I refuse to go with you to see you get her initials tattooed on your body!" Hope snapped. She couldn't help herself. She no longer had a desire to except Skylar, who was very obviously a bad influence on her innocent daughter.

"Well, then you can go see a movie by yourself or something because I'm not putting off getting it!" Ciara said defiantly.

"Is that a tongue ring?" Hope asked; just noticing it.

Ciara nodded, and stuck out her tongue for her to see. "We both got them."

Skylar stuck her tongue out as well. "We're getting eyebrow rings and belly button rings next."

"I also want a nose ring," Ciara said.

Hope stood up. "I don't believe this." She shook her head.

"Well believe it! I'm not the same little girl I was before Dad died, Mom. I'm a grown woman and my tastes have changed!" Ciara said.

"Only because that Jezebel has corrupted you!" Hope said, pointing at Skylar.

"Excuse me, Hope, but I did not force her to do anything. She wanted them all on her own!" Skylar defended herself, also standing up.

"That's Miss Brady to you!" Hope said, narrowing her eyes at her. "You're not allowed to call me Hope anymore."

Ciara stood up as well. "Jezebel? Not allowed to call you Hope anymore? Who are you?" she asked her mother. "You're my mother, yet I don't even recognize you anymore!"

"I might ask you the same question," Hope said coldly.

"You know what? You can call an Uber, a Lyft, or a cab, and have it take you to a hotel. I don't think I want someone as homophobic as you staying in my house—mother or not!" Ciara snapped.

Hope held her head high. "Fine. I don't want to stay in this house with you two sharing a bedroom anyway. I'll take a cab." She walked into the other room with her phone to call the cab, wanting to both scream, and cry at the same time.


	41. S2E16

_**This Love…**_

 _ **Season 2 Episode 16: Love Song to the Earth**_

That night, Hope called Aiden from her hotel room.

"Mm, I was hoping you'd call me. I miss you already, Baby. How was your day with Ciara and Skylar? Did you get to know Skylar a little better?"

"Oh, I got to know her better all right," Hope grumbled.

"Uh. Oh. Why doesn't that sound promising?" Aiden asked.

Hope sighed. "Remember how I promised to be good?"

"Yes…"

Hope winced. "Well… I wasn't."

"Hope…"

"Hear me out! Since dating Skylar, Ciara is acting out so badly! She has a tattoo, Aiden. A _huge_ tattoo! It's of Bo smiling down at a motorcycle. It's sweet in theory, but in reality it's incredibly tacky, cheesy, and flat our ugly! Not to mention, it doesn't make any sense. Like he'd really be in Heaven thinking about his motorcycle instead of Ciara and me!"

"Wow. Well, at least there's a good thought behind it," Aiden said gently, though Hope knew he was just grasping at straws to try and make her feel better.

"That's not all. She has a tongue piercing, and plans on getting eyebrow, belly button, _and_ nose ring piercings with Skylar in the near future! Oh! And her hair is now shorter than yours, Aiden. Can you believe it?"

"I guess it's time I cut my hair then," Aiden joked.

"It's not funny! She cut her long, beautiful hair! She always prided herself on her hair, and hated even just getting the dead ends cut! I'm telling you, Skylar is a bad influence on her."

"What did you do?" Aiden asked with a sigh.

Hope bit her bottom lip. "I refused to go with her tomorrow to the mall for her to get her second tattoo— this one being hers and Skylar's initials inside of a heart. Skylar already has one, which she is displaying as her tramp stamp."

"Tell me you didn't call Skylar a tramp," Aiden said.

"It's a figure of speech, Aiden. Of course I didn't call her a tramp! However, I may or may not have called her a Jezebel, and by that I mean I did." Again, Hope winced in anticipation of Aiden's reply.

"Oh, Hope, you didn't!"

"I did. Ciara got so mad she made me take a cab to a hotel. They're both livid! I know I should apologize, but I'm too angry to. I'm just going to take a flight home first thing in the morning. Ciara told me before I left that she refused to spend the day with me anyway."

"Well, I'm sorry that happened, but I'm glad you'll be home for Earth Day. You know that's our special day."

Hope smiled. "That's right. I forgot that's tomorrow. I should be home by dinner. I have a connecting flight, so that will delay me. Otherwise I'd be home earlier."

"Sounds good," Aiden said.

"Aiden… Do you think I'm a bad person for what I said to Skylar, and for arguing with my daughter?" Hope bit her fingernail.

"Baby, you're the kindest person I know. Believe me, there are bad mothers out there and you aren't one of them. I know you love Ciara more than she could ever imagine. Ciara knows that too. All parents and children fight. And many times they don't like their child's choice of partner. Do you know how many times I fought with Chase? Trust me, she's just going through something right now. She'll come around. I promise!"

"Thank you. I feel better now. I love you," Hope said with a smile.

"I love you too, Baby. Goodnight."

"Goodnight, my Love." Hope hung up the phone, then smiled as she played one more round of Fishdom before bed, using the gems she was able to purchase from the gift card Aiden had given her, to buy more lives.

 _ **~*came back to me*~**_

Hope smiled as she saw Aiden waiting for her with open arms when she got off the plane and back into the airport.

She ran to him and they embraced, kissing passionately.

"I never want to spend another night without you, Baby," Aiden said. "I couldn't sleep without you in my arms."

Hope held him close. "I hate sleeping without you too." She then smiled up at him. "You're just what I need."

"I have something special planned for us. I want to take you there now," Aiden said to her.

"Can we go home first?" Hope asked. "I want to shower, then change into something nicer than my travel clothes."

"Don't worry. I have everything you need, including a shower where we're going," Aiden assured her as he took her hand and walked with her to gather her bag.

Hope raised an eyebrow. "The Salem Inn like old times?" She smirked.

"I have a much better place in mind," Aiden said.

"Well now you got me curious!" Hope replied as Aiden grabbed her bag for her.

They then left the airport hand-in-hand.

 _ **~*came back to me*~**_

"Your new office building? Please tell me you're just stopping here to pick up something along the way," Hope said skeptically as Aiden parked in the parking lot, and turned off the engine.

Aiden shook his head. "Nope! This is it! Trust me, there is more to it than meets the eye." He winked at her.

Hope got out of the car with him, and he locked the doors.

"I'm not trying to be a diva here, but an office isn't exactly what comes to mind when I think romance," Hope quipped as they headed up the stairs and Aiden unlocked the door.

"You will," Aiden said as he got the door open. He let her go in first.

He shut and locked the door behind them.

"Making love on a desk isn't exactly my thing," Hope stated.

"Who says we'll be making love?" Aiden asked in a serious tone, even though he was only teasing her.

Hope shot him a look, complete with arms crossed and eyebrow raised.

"You're a tough cookie to crack!" Aiden said to her. Not even a smile?"

Hope shrugged. "I'm a cop. I don't play games."

"Stop being so grumpy," Aiden said as he took her hand and led her through the offices and up the three flights of stairs it took to get to the door that opened up to their rooftop room.

Hope was not amused. "Aiden, where the heck are we going? I'm tired. I just want to relax. These stairs are killing me."

"Hope, you're seriously running the moment!" Aiden said, trying not to let her grumbling get to him. He opened the door and walked in first.

Hope followed in behind him and gasped at the vision she saw before her. "It's beautiful!"

The Tiffany blue curtains were pushed aside, revealing the beautiful city view that took up the whole wall. Against the wall on the right was a big flat screen TV with build in –DVD player hanging above a flower bed filled with a variety of different colored tulips. To the right of that wall was a double bed with a beautiful tiffany blue comforter that matched the curtains. Directly behind the bed on the center of the wall was a framed picture of Aiden hugging her from behind. They were both smiling. They had had it professionally taken the first time they had dated.

There was a nightstand on each side of the bed with a lamp. There was a vase of tulips on both nightstands as well. There was a table off to the right of the room with a pretty tiffany blue lamp that had pink roses painted on it. Against the wall that the door was attached to was a toilet and a small sink and mirror on one end. There was a curtain around the toilet. There was also a shower/hot tub combo on the other end.

"Aiden this place is amazing! Are we on the roof?" Hope asked in amazement as she looked out the window.

Aiden came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. "Indeed we are! It's my reason for wanting this office. I wanted to have a special room for us if you ever came to visit me at work, or even just for romantic evenings together like tonight."

Hope smiled over her shoulder at him. "And we don't even need to spend money on a Salem Inn room." She placed her hands over top of his. I love the shower/hot tub combo."

Aiden smiled. "I figured you'd like that. It even works as a steam room. It has a steam feature."

"Sounds Heavenly. But what about towels?" Hope asked.

Aiden walked over to her nightstand and opened the door that was attached to the front of it. It doubled as a storage area. He took out a three-piece towel set that had Hope's name embroidered on them with lavender thread. He handed them to her. "I also packed you an overnight bag." He nodded to her travel bag, which was setting down beside the nightstand.

"Toiletries?" Hope asked, an eyebrow raised.

Aiden nodded toward the shower. "I bought doubles of all the bottles you had in our bathroom at home so that you'd have a set here too." He walked over to his nightstand and took out his matching towels. His towels had Aiden embroidered on them instead of Hope of course, and the thread was a sky blue instead of lavender.

"You thought of everything, didn't you?" Hope asked as she set her towels down on the bed.

"I just wanted this place to be perfect for you," Aiden told her, setting his down as well.

"It is… It's so perfect! Aiden, thank you. I love it! This makes me so happy!" Hope said, embracing him.

Aiden's eyes lowered with love for her. "That makes _me_ happy," he said.

They kissed for a moment, then Hope took his hand. "Join me in the shower?" She smiled a smile at him so beautiful it took his breath away, and he couldn't imagine telling her no to anything.

"Of course, my Baby!" He grabbed his towels.

Hope's face lit up, and she grabbed her towels as well. He then kissed her cheek, making her blush, and led her by the hand to the shower.

 _ **~*came back to me*~**_

After washing their own bodies, they took turns washing each other's backs. Hope washed Aiden's back first. He handed her his blue bath puff, and she added more body wash to it then washed his back, her strokes slow and gentle. She trailed kisses down his back and over his shoulders as she washed. When she finished, he took her lavender body puff, added more body wash to it, then turned her around and washed her back in slow, sensual, circular motions.

She looked over her shoulder at him, bit her bottom lip, and subtly bat her long lashes.

He quickly finished washing her back. Now that they were both finished cleaning, they dropped the body puffs.

Aiden turned Hope around to face him, then kissed her passionately. It was clear to both of them that they both wanted the same thing.

"Now?" Aiden asked between passionate kisses. "I thought you said you were starved on the way here."

Hope held his face between her hands, and looked at him with desire-filled eyes. "Dinner can wait. I want my dessert first." She then pulled him in for an even more passionate kiss, and hooked a leg around his waist.

He moaned into the kiss, and lifted her up, allowing both her legs to wrap around his waist. He then gently pressed her back against the tiled wall, and began to make love to her. She threw her head back the best she could, her eyes closed, and a moan escaped her lips. He kissed up her neck as he continued to make love to her, a little more forcefully, for he knew she needed him as much as he needed her. He continued to kiss her neck as he made love to her. Her heavy panting and moans of pleasure filling the room. He made a mental note to make sure the room was soundproof for future reference. After all, he wouldn't want his staff or clients getting an earful.

She dug her nails into his back, but he only felt pleasure. And when she murmured in his ear, "More…" he was more than willing to give her what she asked for.

It didn't take long after giving into her request that they both reached their goal. He gently set her down, but their kissing didn't cease.

"Do you want dinner now?" Aiden asked with a grin, once they were both able to finally get their breathing back to normal.

"But I want more of _you_ ," Hope said, pulling him close again.

He moaned. "Baby, trust me, you'll get as much of me as you want later tonight. But I've gotta take a rest." He kissed her neck. "You wore me out, Baby!"

Hope grinned. "Okay." She kissed his neck as well. "But I'm going to hold you to your promise once we've eaten…" she purred into his ear.

He moaned. "No problem there! I bought you something. It's in your bag. It's a dress. Will you wear it for me?"

Hope smirked. "If it furthers my chances of getting what I want tonight, then of course!"

Aiden licked his lips. "You're getting what you want tonight no matter what you wear, but this will definitely…enhance my mood." He gently licked up her neck as if he was pre-devouring her.

"Mm… I'll get right on it then," she said, heading to grab her bag, her towel wrapped around her body.

Aiden grinned. "And tonight, I'll get right on _you_!"

Hope grinned at the thought.

 _ **~*came back to me*~**_

"Do you like your dress?" Aiden asked once Hope was dressed. "Because I love it! It's even more beautiful on you than it was on the mannequin.

"I love it, Mr. Jennings, thank you," Hope said, pulling him close. "It's really form-fitting though. I kind of feel like a cow in it." She put her hand on her baby bump.

Aiden placed his hands around her waist. "You don't look like a cow. You look like the beautiful glowing angel who is the mother of my children. In fact, I've never seen you look more beautiful than you do tonight. Pregnant or not, you take my breath away, Hope. You always have."

Hope blushed. "You always know just the right things to say to me to make me feel good." She then kissed the side of his neck. "And the right things to do to my body to make me feel good…" she purred.

Aiden moaned. "So, do you want to go out for dinner or order in a pizza and stay in?"

"Why don't we order a pizza in? We'll have the beautiful view of the city while we eat," Hope suggested.

Aiden grinned. "I was hoping you'd say that! Peperoni and pineapple?"

Hope licked her lips and rubbed her stomach. "And breadsticks? I know I usually go for Domino's, but I'm craving Pizza Hut this time."

"Breadsticks and Pizza Hut it is!" Aiden said. He took out his cell phone and looked the number up, then he called and ordered their pizza. He paid over the phone.

When he hung up, he set down his phone, and then took a little remote he had in his pocket and pressed play. Suddenly, their song filled the room.

"What? Where?" Hope looked around.

Aiden pointed upward.

Hope looked and saw that there were speakers in the ceiling corners of the room on the side their bed was on. "I have them rigged to my iPod," he said, nodding toward his IPod, which was sitting in an IPod dock on his nightstand.

Hope took him by the hand and gently stroked his hair. "You sure think of everything, don't you?"

"I just want the best for my Baby," Aiden said, taking her hand and kissing it.

"I love how you matched your dress shirt with my dress," Hope said. Aiden was wearing a grey suit with a lavender dress shirt, which was the extract color of her dress.

"Kind of feels like prom, doesn't it?" Aiden joked, as he took her into a slow dance stance.

"This is a million times better than prom," Hope commented. "With a much better view too." She stroked some hair out of his eyes.

Aiden looked out the window wall they were dancing in front of. It was dark now, and all the building lights made the town beautifully bright. "Yes, the lights make this place look even more magical…"

Hope gently moved his face so that he was forced to look into her eyes. "I wasn't talking about the city lights," she said, her eyes twinkling, and her lips formed into a smile filled with love. "I mean, don't get me wrong, they are beautiful!" She looked over at the window to admire them. Then she looked back at Aiden and gently stroked his cheek. "But they don't compare to the gorgeous view right before my eyes. "I love you, Mr. Jennings. You mean the world to me."

"Baby, you _are_ my world," Aiden said to her. You and our babies."

"And you're mine," Hope said in practically a whisper.

Their eyes lowered with love for each other and they kissed, then slowly danced to their song as they remembered their very first time dancing to this song. It had been the day they had fallen in love with each other for the first time.

 _ **~*came back to me*~**_

"Mm, the pizza and breadsticks were delicious!" Hope said. "I'm glad you remembered to get the triple chocolate brownies too. You know I love the triple chocolate brownies!"

"I know what my baby likes!" Aiden said proudly.

Hope drank down the last of her caffeine-free soda, then stood up and stretched. "I'm tired from the long flight and layover. I think it's time I hit the sack."

Aiden looked at her in surprise. "Oh. All right. We can go to bed now."

Hope hid a smile at his obvious disappointment.

"Just let me take this stuff down to the trash. I thought of everything but a trash can up here! I wanted a mini fridge and a microwave too, but there is only so much I could fit up here," Aiden said.

Hope smiled. "It's perfect the way it is."

"I'll be right back," Aiden said. He then left to go downstairs and ditch their trash.

As soon as he had left, Hope turned on the hot tub and stripped down to nothing. She then posed on the bed, waiting for him to come back.

When he came back, his mouth dropped open when he saw her naked and posed on the bed for him. "I thought you wanted to go to bed," he said.

Hope smirked. "Who said I wanted to sleep?"

Aiden licked his lips, extremely hungry for her now. He wanted more dessert. He stripped off his own clothes, then picked her up and carried her over to the tub. He then got into the tub and gently set her down. He turned off the water and turned the jets on, then they both sat for a minute and enjoyed the hot tub, while kissing in each other's arms.

But then Hope had other ideas. She got up and straddled Aiden from the front, sitting on his lap. "You want me as much as I want you. Don't you, Mr. Jennings?" she purred seductively.

He moaned, more than ready to make love to her. "You know I do!" he murmured.

She grinned. "Good!" She then gently took his earlobe between her teeth before murmuring, "Then take me." She took initiative by starting the lovemaking process, and he gladly obliged, with her still straddling him.

Together they moved, sharing their love and desire for each other, not being able to concentrate on anything but their hunger and desire for each other.

Hope's moans were louder this time, and her eyes rolled to the back of her head. This sent even more jolts of pleasure through Aiden's body as he kissed and gently nipped at her neck. Their lovemaking became more forceful and intense. It was suddenly to the point that Aiden literally couldn't take the heat. He picked her up and carried her out of the tub and to the bed to finish what they had started.

Only now, they had settled into a gentler pace, both wanting to savor their night together.

When it ended, they stayed together for a moment, lazily kissing, their hearts filled with love for each other. No one had bothered to turn on the lights, for the city lights shed a surprising amount of light—equivalent to a room full of candles. By then, they both really were tired.

Aiden pulled the covers up over both of them, then Hope closed her eyes and happily rested her head on his chest. "I love you, Mr. Jennings."

"I love you too, my beautiful Baby," Aiden said to her.

"Happy Earth Day, Mr. Jennings," she then added, a big smile on her face, but her eyes still closed.

Aiden smiled as well, and kissed the top of her head. "Happy Earth Day, Baby."

They then both drifted off into a peaceful and happy sleep.


	42. S2E17

_**This Love…**_

 _ **Season 2 Episode 17: Crazy**_

The next morning, Hope woke up to find Aiden was missing. She pouted; not liking not waking up in his arms. However, she didn't have to worry, for no more than two minutes later the door opened, and there he was, balancing a small brown paper bag on top of a drink tray with one hand while he had used his free hand to open the door.

He smiled when he saw she was up. "Good morning, Baby!" He shut the door and locked it, then headed over to her and kissed her sweetly on the lips. "I'm sorry I didn't leave a note. I was hoping I'd be back before you woke."

Hope smiled. "You brought me breakfast? What did you bring?" She reached for the familiar Salem café bag.

Aiden let her grab the bag. "Check it out and see for yourself!" he said with a wink.

Hope licked her lips as she looked in and saw a bagel with cream cheese, some strawberry banana yogurt, and a big container of bacon.

She grinned at him. "You remembered the bacon! Did you get me some coffee?"

"Decaffeinated of course," Aiden said as he handed her one of the cups.

Hope shot him a look. "What's the point of coffee in the morning if it's not caffeinated?" she grumbled before reluctantly taking a sip.

"Hope, you know affine isn't good for our babies." Aiden placed his hands over her stomach and gently rubbed it.

Hope nodded. "I know, I know. It doesn't mean I can't complain about it!"

"I also got you some grape juice. I know it's your favorite juice!" Aiden kissed her cheek and handed her another cup.

"You always know just what I need," Hope said in love-struck awe.

"It's my job to make sure you have everything you need. After all, you _are_ the love of my life," Aiden murmured.

Hope gently stroked his cheek. "And you're mine," she said before they lovingly kissed.

Hope then raised an eyebrow. "Where's _your_ food?"

"I'm just going to have some of the bacon with my coffee. I was never one to get too hungry in the mornings. I don't get hungry until lunchtime."

"You should learn to eat breakfast more often. After all, it's the most important meal of the day and can give you the energy to get through your day," Hope commented before taking a large bite of her bagel. She closed her eyes. "Mm… So good."

"All I need to get me through my day is to know that you'll be there waiting for me when I get out of work!" Aiden said. He kissed her cheek, then sipped his coffee. "Mm… Got to love the caffeine in the morning!"

Hope shot him a look to kill. "I know you haven't been a father-to-be in a long time before now, but there is something you should know."

Aiden raised an eyebrow. "What's that?"

Hope narrowed her eyes at him. "Never taunt a pregnant woman—especially not one who is caffeine deprived."

Aiden loved getting her going, so he called her bluff. "Or what?" he asked, doing his best to hold back a smirk.

Hope locked eyes with him. "Remember what Lorena Bobbitt did?"

Aiden nodded. "Wasn't she the woman who cut off her husband's—" He paled. "Since you will be formula-feeding our babies, I'll buy you all the caffeine you want once they are born."

Hope smirked. "I'll need it!"

Aiden sat down beside her, and then she held out a piece of bacon to him and he ate it from her hand. He then fed her a piece in return.

"See?" Aiden asked. "I told you we'd always have bacon."

"Thank God for that!" Hope ate another piece of bacon and closed her eyes. "Mm! I could live off this stuff."

Aiden looked at his watch. "I have to be getting down to work. I have a meeting in five minutes. Thankfully, it's right downstairs. It's one of the perks of having our special place attached to my law firm."

Hope pouted. "I was hoping you could spend the morning with me. I get so bored now that I'm not working."

"I'll try to get out early tonight," Aiden promised. "Until then, why don't you stay as long as you'd like? Heck, you can enjoy the hot tub some more."

Hope shook her head. "I can't. Hot tubs aren't good for pregnant women to be in." She bit into her second half of bagel.

Aiden paled. "Why didn't you tell me this last night when we were…" He trailed off. "Now I feel bad I put out babies' health at risk."

"It's all right for short periods of time. I just can't make a habit of it or stay in very long. I probably shouldn't have been making love with you in the hot tub, but it's kind of hard to think clearly when we're past the point of no return if you know what I mean." Hope smirked. "But we weren't in there long at all. Trust me, they're fine."

"Maybe you should have Kayla check you out just to make sure," Aiden said; still worried.

"Relax, my Love!" Hope placed her hands over her stomach. "Haiden and Madeleine are just fine. My next appointment is next week. I'll have Kayla check then—sooner if I start to feel off."

"If you're sure," Aiden said.

"Baby, I'm fine. Now come here and kiss me before you leave."

Aiden didn't have to be told twice! He set his coffee cup down on the table then rushed over to Hope and kissed her passionately.

Hope then pulled him down onto the bed with her. "Stay," she purred, kissing down the side of his neck.

Aiden closed his eyes, wanting so badly to give into her and stay. "Baby, you know I can't. I have a meeting."

Hope pouted. "Please? Aren't I more important?"

"You know you are, but this case is kind of a big deal, and I really need to meet with my client."

"Only kind of. See? Not important." Hope let her fingers work at Aiden's zipper.

"Baby… Please…." Aiden said gently. He didn't want to hurt her feelings, but he really had to go.

Hope pouted. "Fine!" She zipped him back up.

"I'll make it up to you tonight. I promise. I'll take you out to the fanciest restaurant in town. Or out of town. Wherever you'd like to go," Aiden promised.

"All right," Hope agreed, though she wasn't happy with it.

Aiden kissed her. "So we're good? You're not going to pull a Lorena Bobbitt on me?"

Hoped laughed. "Your parts are safe." She pulled him close by the dress shirt. "After all, I still need them," she purred in his ear before gently licking it.

He moaned, so close to postponing the meeting and spending the rest of the day in bed with Hope. Instead, he dug into his wallet and handed her a credit card. "Here. Take this and get something nice for yourself tonight as well as whatever you want for the babies. Just try to keep in mind that we only have so much space in the nursery."

Hope grinned. "Thank you, and I will." She kissed him passionately. She then whispered in his ear again, "I'll be sure to pick up something lacy and see-thru for bedtime tonight. Something easy to take off…"

Aiden moaned again. He quickly kissed her on the lips. "Gotta go!" he stammered before leaving, and heading down to his office.

Hope smirked, knowing he would have that image in his head all day. Good! She needed to be in his head all day—not that trollop of a secretary, Tiffany!

She finished her breakfast, then headed over to take a shower. Hope made a note to make sure that Tiffany saw her on the way out. She would even kissed Aiden as passionately as she could right in front of Tiffany. After all, she wanted Tiffany to know exactly who it was that Aiden wanted.

 _ **~*came back to me*~**_

The following week, Hope's appointment went all right. Though Kayla was concerned with her stress level. "You and Aiden aren't having problems, are you?" Kayla asked her.

Hope made a face. "What? No! In fact, it's just the opposite. Things have never been better between us."

Kaya raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms over her chest. "Well, then what is it? I've known you long enough to know when you're stressed out. It's showing in your body too. The babies are okay, but you really need to take it easy."

Hope looked at her. "I'm that transparent, huh?"

Kayla nodded. "Spill."

Hope sighed, then told her about Ciara, and how they were on the outs because of her girlfriend, and because of Hope's inability to accept said girlfriend.

"Can't you just pretend to get along with her for Ciara's sake and yours?" Kayla asked.

Hope sighed. "I want to. But whenever we're together, she always does something to set me off. This time it was piercings and tattoos. My baby has a tattoo. Can you believe it? Little Ciara!"

"Except Ciara's not so little anymore," Kayla said with a wink and a smile.

Hope raised an eyebrow at her. "It's a huge bicep tattoo of Bo's face smiling down at a motorcycle."

Kayla winced and let out a sound very much like Lucy Ricardo used to make upon realizing she screwed up.

"Exactly! I appreciate her wanting to pay tribute to her father, but it's just so ugly and tacky! Not to mention huge." Hope hugged herself. "I never wanted my baby to have a tattoo."

"Well, none of it is worth a strained relationship with your daughter. I know it's hard, but just suck it up and hope for this phase or whatever it is to pass," Kayla suggested.

"Yeah, and how many tattoos and piercings later will it be until it passes?" Hope asked.

Kayla smirked, and gently pat her shoulder. "Try not to worry too much. It's not good for you or the babies."

"Easier said than done!" Hope said with a snort.

Kayla hugged her. "See you next appointment, if not sooner. I have to go make my rounds. And don't stress over anything! I mean it!"

Hope sighed, then got up and left. Maybe finally checking up on this Casey Michelson would help her take her mind of things, she figured…

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

"I put his name through the database. There are four Casey Michaelson's in Salem. One is sixty, so I doubt it's him. One is a child, so again, I doubt it's him. That leaves us with one Casey Michaelson who is forty, and one who is twenty-five," Shawn said at the station.

"Andre said he was forty. It's the forty-year old," Hope said. She leaned forward from behind Shawn at his desk. "Does he have a record?"

Shawn looked. "The only thing showing up is a couple of speeding tickets, which he promptly paid off." He shrugged. "Seems like a good enough guy."

Hope shook her head. "Still, if he's mixed up with Andre, one can never be sure. For all we know, Andre wiped clean any worse records he might have had."

"In all fairness, _Aiden_ used to work for the Dimeras," Shawn stated.

Hope shot him a look. "He's changed, and he has proven it."

Shawn held up his hands in defense. "All I'm saying is that it doesn't necessarily make this Casey guy a bad person. Maybe he is just going through a hard time and needs the money."

"Maybe. Do you have an address?" Hope asked.

Shawn shrugged. "Mom, I don't think you should go alone."

Hope shrugged. "You're welcome to come with me, but I can handle my own."

"Are you forgetting about getting shot in the shoulder?" Shawn asked her, his arms crossed over his chest.

Hope rolled her eyes. "I was trying to protect you."

"I didn't need protection. I had it covered," Shawn said. "Besides, it's better for me to get shot than you and the babies."

Hope sighed. "Shawn, just give me the address."

"Fine, but I'm going with you." Shawn jotted down the address in his phone, then grabbed his jacket off the back of his chair.

"Fine, but I get to do the interrogating," Hope warned.

"Done," Shawn agreed.

They then left the office and went off to find Casey Michaelson.

 _ **~*came back to me*~**_

They arrived at Apartment 4B where Casey was living according to the address they had gotten.

They knocked on the door and no one answered. After a moment, they knocked again, and still got no answer.

"Mr. Michaelson? It's Hope Brady. I'm a good friend of the woman you're giving your kidney to. Carol Jennings, right?" Hope called out.

There was still no answer.

"I don't think he's home," Shawn said.

"He's not."

Hope and Shawn both jumped at the sound of an unfamiliar voice. They both turned around and saw an elderly lady wearing a house coat and stroking a cat in her arms.

"Do you know Mr. Michaelson?" Hope asked her.

"I do! He's my next-door neighbor. So to speak." She nodded at the apartment door right beside his. "He's such a good neighbor! He does stuff for me around the house. You know, little odds and ends like fixing the sink, putting up pictures and light fixtures, and cleaning Miss Kitty's litter box. He's such a dear! He never takes any money for it, but sometimes I slip a twenty into his tool box when he's not looking."

"Wouldn't the landlord do those things?" Shawn asked. "Well, minus cleaning the cat box."

"Oh, I don't trust our landlord. He's shady, fat, and lazy. If Miss Kitty didn't have so many friends in this apartment complex, we'd move," the lady said.

Hope and Shawn both smirked.

"Friends?" Shawn muttered.

Hope subtly elbowed him. "Do you know where he is now or when he'll be home? We really need to speak with him."

The old lady nodded. "He's at the hospital. He's giving up his kidney for some woman he hasn't even met yet! Can you believe it? He's meeting her today for the first time—right before they head to the hospital to get the surgery done."

"Today? The surgery is happening today?" Hope asked in surprise.

"Yes. He headed out just this morning. Such a Dear. He promised me he'd clean Miss Kitty's box for me in a few days when he gets back. He'll be recovering and probably in pain, yet he still wants to clean her box for me." The old lady stroked her cat's head. "He's so good to us, isn't he?"

"Are you asking the cat or us?" Shawn quipped.

The old lady looked up at him. "Miss Kitty of course!"

Shawn walked away, for fear of laughing in her face.

Hope smiled. "Such a beautiful cat. Thank you for your time."

"Miss Kitty says thank you!" the old lady replied.

Hope smiled weakly, then headed into the elevator with Shawn. "I'm going to kill you! You almost had me laughing in that poor old woman's face!" She playfully backhanded his chest.

Shawn smirked. "Why do you think I took off?"

Hope sighed. "Anyway, we need to get on over to the Dimeras and find out where the surgery is taking place. I can't believe Carol didn't tell Aiden the surgery was happening today!" She pulled out her phone to call Aiden.

"We know the surgery won't be at the regular hospital. For all we know, it's being done right at the mansion," Shawn said.

"That's what I'm afraid of," Hope said before Aiden picked up.

"Hey, Baby! Miss me already?" he teased. "Cuz I sure as heck miss you."

"Aiden, you need to get down to the Dimera mansion right now," Hope said gently. "I think your sister is getting the surgery done now."

"What? Now? Why didn't she tell me? Wait. She's having it done at the Dimera mansion?" Aiden sounded a bit frantic.

"I don't know. All I know is that she is getting the surgery today. You know what? I can tell you're upset. You shouldn't be driving. I'll pick you up. I'm not far from your office anyway. I'll be there in ten," Hope said.

"All right," Aiden agreed.

They hung up, then Hope looked at Shawn. "I just hope we're not too late."

Shawn nodded. "Me too."


	43. S2E18

_**This Love…**_

 _ **Season 2 Episode 18: Only Time**_

Aiden pounded on the door. "Andre, I know you're in there! Let me in now!"

Hope placed a hand over his back. "Try to relax. Getting worked up isn't going to help anything."

Aiden looked at her. "My sister is about to be cut open and have a kidney that may or may not be good for her body put into her. I can't calm down."

"We understand that, Aiden, but getting upset isn't going to help matters! Hard as it may be, you have to be calm for your sister," Shawn said.

Aiden looked at him, feeling like snapping at him to mind his own business. But he knew that wouldn't bode well with Hope. Besides, he knew Shawn meant well.

Just then, the door opened, and there stood Harold. "May I help you?"

"I need to see my sister. I know she's in there," Aiden said simply.

"I'm afraid she is indisposed right now. Maybe if you come back a little later—"

Aiden pushed past him. "What the hell do you mean by indisposed? I want to see my sister— **now**. I'm going to give you one more chance to answer me. Where is she?"

"I'm going to call security if you don't leave this instant! Mr. Dimera has asked me that I let no one in!" Harold snapped.

Hope flashed her badge, for even though she was currently on maternity leave, she never left home without it.

Shawn flashed his badge as well.

"We're a little higher up than your security," Hope informed Harold. "In fact, we're a lot higher up. So if I were you, I'd start answering Mr. Jennings' questions."

Harold sighed.

"What is all the noise about?" Andre asked, coming into the room from the other room.

Aiden glared at him. "I want to see my sister!"

"I'm sorry, Mr. Dimera. He pushed past me, and they are very insistent!" Harold said.

"It's all right, Harold. Go back to what you were doing," Andre ordered.

Harold nodded his agreement, then went and did as ordered.

"Now, what seems to be the problem?" Andre asked once they were left alone.

"As I just told you, I want to see my sister," Aiden said, taking Hope and Shawn's advice and trying his best to stay calm.

"Your sister is in the middle of her surgery right now," Andre replied. "It is best you do not interrupt the doctor until he is finished."

"In surgery? Where? Andre, she needs a hospital! You claim to love her, yet you're putting her life in danger by not having the surgery done at a hospital by someone legit!" Aiden snapped.

Andre rolled his eyes. "Oh, Aiden, relax! I'll have to know that Dr. Rolf has worked for my family for years. He has all the medical degrees he needs, not to mention he's worked all around the world. He is one of the best doctors in his field if not the best! He puts Daniel Jonas, Kayla Johnson, and Valerie Grant _combined_ to shame. Just because he mainly works for my family doesn't mean that he isn't legit!"

"And what about the hospital? Does Dr. Rolf have all the tools he needs? Is everything sterilized? Is the working environment safe?" Hope asked.

"Oh ye of little faith, Hope!" Andre said.

Hope crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow at him. "Give me one good reason I should ever have faith in you."

"You will see when the surgery is all done," Andre replied. "You're forgetting what the power of having lots and lots of money can do. Trust me Hope, I have an underground hospital room filled with all the necessities for a successful operation. I even have a recovery room. Carol and Casey are both in good and capable hands. Also, despite what you all may think, Casey _wanted_ to do this. I didn't force him into doing anything. Like I said a moment ago, in so many words, never underestimate what money can do."

"So what are we supposed to do? Just sit here and wait?" Aiden asked.

Andre nodded. "You're welcome to wait here. I promise you, as soon as your sister is out of recovery, I will take you straight to her. But for now, Dr. Rolf needs full concentration."

"Guys, are you going to be okay without me? Technically, I'm still working. I need to get back before Roman busts my butt," Shawn said.

Hope nodded. "We'll be fine." She hugged her son. "Tell Roman he has to answer to me if he does any 'butt busting'." Hope smirked at Shawn.

Shawn grinned. "I will. Keep me posted."

"We will!" Hope promised.

"Thank you, Shawn…for everything. I appreciate it," Aiden said.

Shawn nodded at him. "Don't mention it." He then left.

Aiden sighed, and sat down on the couch.

Hope sat down beside him and gently rubbed his back. "You've been giving her the anti-rejection pills I hope?" she asked Andre.

"Of coruse, Hope. I'm not an idiot, and neither is Rolf. Just as prescribed, she took them for a week before the surgery," Andre answered. "And before you ask, yes, I'm aware she needs to take them every day for the rest of her life."

"How long has she been in surgery already?" Aiden asked.

"About an hour. We had a lot of pre-op to do before then. I also have an underground medical lab. I told you I was prepared." Andre winked at them.

"You don't even seem worried! I don't know. I just don't trust this. I don't trust any of it!" Aiden said. He got up off the couch and started pacing the room.

"How long goes surgery usually take?" Hope asked.

"Dr. Rolf said it would take him about four hours," Andre replied.

"We'll be back in three," Hope said. She then got up and placed her hands on Aiden's shoulders. "Let's go for a walk and maybe get something to eat while we wait."

Aiden shook his head. "I can't leave her. I can't even eat right now. I'm too worried!"

"Come on. It will be less stressful than waiting around here. You can't see her until she's out of surgery anyway. Please come with me? For me?" Hope asked gently.

Aiden looked into her pleading eyes, then nodded. "All right. For you. But we come right back here in three hours!"

Hope nodded. "We'll come right back," she promised.

"See you in three," Andre said with a huge grin as he wriggled his fingers at them.

Hope shot him a look, then led Aiden out of the mansion. The truth was she was, she was scared for Carol too. But her priority was taking care of Aiden, and right then, she knew the best way to do that was to get him out of the mansion and to keep him distracted.

Once they were in the car, she drove off. She knew one place that was always good for calming him down.

 _ **~*came back to me*~**_

"I used to go here every day. It's been a while since I last visited. Sorry, Son. I guess life just got busy," Aiden said, placing his hand over top of Chase's grave.

"The babies are developing nicely," Hope said with a smile, her hands on her womb and her eyes on the tombstone. "I wish you could meet your little brother and sister when they arrive, but I know you'll be looking down on them."

Aiden nodded. "I haven't even met them yet, but I already know they would have adored you. You would have been the _best_ big brother to them! I know that too!"

"I'm going to go visit RJ and Faith's grave. I'll give you some time alone," Hope said.

Aiden nodded. "Take your time. Just come back over when you're done."

Hope stroked his hair and kissed the top of his head. "You take your time too," she whispered.

Once Hope had left, Aiden crouched down. "I want you to know, just because I have two new babies on the way, it doesn't mean I love you any less. I know I haven't been visiting you as often, but it has nothing to do with your brother and sister. I have my own office now. It takes a lot of my time. And now your aunt is back. She needs a new kidney and is getting the surgery today. I'm so nervous something is going to go wrong! Especially when the doctor doing the surgery is a Dimera doctor. He's even doing it in the underground Dimera hospital. Have you ever heard of something so ridiculous before? I don't trust it one bit, but Carol didn't tell me what was happening, so now I just have to accept it and pray for the best."

Aiden paused. He wasn't usually a crier, but he felt the tears welling up in his eyes. "I already lost you. I just don't want to lose her too, you know? I know she and I haven't always been on the best of terms, but I love her. God help me, I love her. Can you please put a good word in with God about her? Maybe ask Him for her surgery to go well, and for her body not to reject the kidney?"

No sooner had Aiden asked that, than a gentle gust of wind blew the grass.

Aiden placed rubbed the top of the tombstone and smiled. "Thanks, Son. I knew I could count on you." He kissed the top of his tombstone. "I promise I'll get back on the regular schedule of visiting you. And as soon as they babies are born and can come home, I'll bring them here to meet you. I love you, Son." Aiden lovingly stroked the tombstone, then went over to find Hope.

Hope was just wrapping up when Aiden arrived.

"Hey, Cuties. I hope God is spoiling you two rotten up there!" he said to the deceased twins' grave.

Hope grinned. "I have no doubt that He is! After all, no one loves them more than God does, right?" She took his arm and rested her head against his shoulder.

Aiden nodded. "Right! "I'll visit you again soon, my loves. Mommy loves you." Hope kissed her hand twice, then placed it on the tombstone. She then headed out of the cemetery with Aiden. "So, how was your visit?"

"It made me feel better. Thank you for taking me here, Hope. You always know just what I need." Aiden took her hand and kissed it.

Hope gently stroked his cheek. "Always! That includes food. I know you said you weren't hungry, but I also know you don't eat breakfast, so you need to at least eat lunch. Carol will need you, and you're going to need energy and fuel to be there for her."

Aiden sighed. "All right, all right. Anything for you, and anything for Carol. And our babies too of course." Aiden bent down and kissed Hope's stomach.

As he stood up, Hope cried out in surprise, and placed her hands over her stomach. "Wow."

Aiden was instantly concerned. "What did I do? What's wrong?"

Hope laughed. "Nothing's wrong. I think one of the babies is reacting to your kiss. They just kicked!" She winced. "And again."

"Really?" Aiden's eyes lit up with excitement. He placed his hands over her stomach, and sure enough, felt a kick. He grinned up at Hope. "That's my son or daughter!"

Hope grinned. "Or both for all we know. They may be taking turns." She winked at Aiden.

"I appreciate you wanting to say hello, but don't kick your mommy too hard. You don't want to hurt her, do you?" Aiden asked her stomach gently.

Hope grinned, then kissed his cheek. "Always looking out for me. Let's go get some lunch at the café, they're the only restaurant I know of that has both breakfast any time you want it and that also serves chocolate ice cream."

"Dare I ask?" Aiden asked her as they headed hand-in-hand to the café.

"I have a craving for eggs on top of chocolate ice cream!" Hope said. "I want that for my dessert after I eat my lunch."

Aiden felt his stomach churn. "Don't get me wrong, I love our babies, but they have the vilest taste in food!"

Hope laughed. "What? It's no different than a chocolate Easter egg."

Aiden looked at her in confusion. "That's not the same at all!"

Again, Hope laughed. "I tried!"

Again grinned. "Whatever my baby and our babies wants, my baby and our babies get. But don't expect me to try it this time."

Hope shrugged. "All the more for us!" she said with a grin as she gently rubbed her stomach.

Aiden smiled at her, his heart overflowing with love for his girlfriend and their babies-to-be.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

"I really don't see why we're here. I need to get back to Carol," Aiden said as they stood at the park and looked around. They had headed thee right after lunch and dessert.

"We're here because it will help you relax," Hope said, gently massaging his shoulders. "There is still an hour until Carol is out of surgery. There is nothing we can do at the Dimera mansion other than talk to Andre." Hope gently turned Aiden's face toward hers and raised an eyebrow. "Do you really want to sit there for an hour and have a conversation with Andre Dimera?"

Aiden smiled. "I suppose not."

Hope grinned. "I thought so!" She grabbed his hand and led him to the empty swing set. "Now come on!" She sat down on a swing and nodded toward the swing beside hers. "Join me. I haven't swung in what feels like a lifetime!"

Aiden shook his head. "I'll look like an idiot."

"Oh, so you think _I_ do?" Hope teased.

Aiden shook his head. "No, you could never look like an idiot. Well, you did when you were dating Rafe."

Hope gasped. "I cannot believe you just said that!" Her grinned showed she really didn't mind.

"Anybody looks like an idiot when next to Rafe!" Aiden said with a shrug. He sat down on the swing and looked at Hope. "But at least you looked like a beautiful idiot." He winked at her.

" _Haha_ …" Hope said sarcastically. She started to pump her legs. "Come on… Swing!"

Aiden shook his head. "I'll look silly. It's more acceptable for women to swing than for men."

Hope rolled her eyes. "I may have _looked_ like an idiot, but now you _sound_ like one."

"Hey!" Aiden protested.

Hope bat her eyelashes at him. "But you sound like a handsome idiot at least!"

"Touché!" Aiden replied.

"Come on. Nobody's around. No one will see. All the kids are in school," Hope urged.

"Not the ones who are too young for school," Aiden reminded her. Regardless, he pumped his legs and began to swing along beside her.

"Life's too short to care about looking silly. All that matters is that you're having fun, and that you don't hurt anybody!" Hope said as she swung even higher.

"How do you get up that high?" Aiden asked.

"It's all in the legs, my Love," Hope responded.

Aiden eyed her legs. "Mm… Yes it is… Among other places."

Hope smirked at him. "Just shut up and pump your legs!" She grinned.

"Sounds kinky!" Aiden joked.

She laughed. "Stop it!"

Aiden then pumped his legs, and for the next five minutes, they had fun, laughing and fighting to be the one who was flying the highest. However, Hope having the daintier legs found it easier to pump, and therefore was able to fly slightly higher than him.

Knowing he had lost the contest, Aiden figured he couldn't leave this with him looking like a loser. If he couldn't impress Hope with flying high, he figured he'd do it another way.

He slowed down just a bit, then, after a few more pumps of this legs, he jumped off the swing on its way forward; just like he used to do with his friends on the playground in elementary school. The only difference was, back then he was younger and had more practice. Now, his muscles were a little rustier and he hadn't done that move in over thirty years. He was well out of practice and therefore he stumbled and fell flat on his face…directly into the muddy grass.

"Aiden, are you all right?" Hope immediately began to slow her swinging.

Aiden groaned. "I'm fine." He slowly got up onto his knees. "Just a bruised ego is all."

Hope got her swing to stop, and then she carefully got off her swing and rushed over to him. She helped him up as she laughed. "What happened?"

"I tried to impress you by jumping off the swing like I used to do as a kid. I guess it's not like riding a bicycle. You don't ways remember how to do it," he grumbled.

Again, she laughed. "Oh, it looked like you remembered how to do it." She raised an eyebrow at him. "You just weren't used to doing it with a forty-eight-year-old's body." She smirked.

"I just wanted to impress you. Instead I ended up looking like an idiot," he grumbled. "I guess the joke's on me."

"Hey," Hope moved his face so that he was forced to look at her again. "You're not an idiot. You tried, and that is more than a lot of men your age would do." She stroked his dirty cheek. "Besides, you more than impress me in other ways…" She then murmured in his ear, "In the ways that actually count!" She then wiped off the mud from Aiden's cheek that had transferred onto her hand off on the clean part of his shirt. "Let's get you home, cleaned, and changed. Then we can get back to Carol."

Aiden took her hand in his own and nodded. He then kissed her cheek. "Thank you. Again, you always know how to cheer me up."

Hope smiled, and rested her head against his. "Likewise."

They then headed back to the car.

"Just be careful not to get mud all over. I just had this car cleaned," Hope said.

Aiden playfully rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah…."

 _ **~*came back to me*~**_

"All right. It's been an hour. Let us see my sister," Aiden said as soon as he and Hope walked into the mansion's living room.

Andre rolled his eyes. "Oh will you relax, Aiden? She just got out of surgery. It was a success! I will bring you both to the recovery room. Casey is down there too."

"How is he doing?" Hope asked as Andre led them to the library.

"He is doing just fine. He is stitched up nice and tight and due to go home in a couple days." Andre pulled out a book, and just like in the movies, the book case opened up.

Hope raised an eyebrow. "Funny. I would have pegged you as one who wasn't so clichéd when it came to how your underground rooms are hidden."

Andre shrugged. "All the more reason to make it the bookshelf! There are many others just like you who wouldn't have expected me to be so clichéd. Have no fear, however, for there are many more secret rooms hidden in this mansion—rooms that you will never find even if you were to go over every single inch of this mansion."

"Cool!" Aiden said.

Hope gently elbowed him.

"Well it is," Aiden said.

They walked down a stairway and around a corner, down a long hallway, past two rooms until they finally came across a room at the end of the hallway. Andre used his handprint and a code (which he made them look away for) and finally gained access to the room.

He allowed them in first.

There were two hospital beds side-by-side with only about three feet between them. One held a good looking blonde male, who was sleeping, and another held Carol, who also appeared to be sleeping.

Aiden ran over to her. "Carol? Are you all right?" he couldn't help but ask.

A few seconds later, Carol's eyes slowly flickered open. She didn't say anything, but she slowly smiled, then gave him a thumbs up sign.

Hope put an arm around Aiden's waist and smiled down at Carol. "You had your brother and I so worried about you!" she said gently.

Carol smiled at her weakly.

"Why isn't she talking?" Aiden asked Dr. Rolf.

"She told me before I even gave her the anesthesia that she wasn't going to say anything until it wore off. She doesn't want to be like those people on You Tube who make idiots of themselves while still under the influence of the anesthesia," Dr. Rolf answered.

Aiden looked at Carol. "You don't need anesthesia to make an idiot of yourself. You do that every day all on your own!" he joked.

Carol shot him a look and gave him the middle finger.

Aiden grinned at Hope. "Yep! She's going to be okay!"

Hope grinned too, which caused Carol to smile as well.


	44. S2E19

_**This Love…**_

 _ **Season 2 Episode 19: Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)**_

Two weeks had passed since Carol's surgery. Against Aiden's wishes, she had opted to stay at the mansion with Andre instead of staying with him and Hope during her recovery time. Not that Aiden really had a say in the matter anyway. After all, she was not only an adult, but older than him. Even so, she was glad that he was appeased by the fact that Dr. Rolf would also be living in the mansion for two weeks just in case she needed him. Dr. Rolf wanted to monitor her and make sure that she wasn't rejecting the organ.

Casey had gone home, and Chad and Abigail were away on an extended vacation. They were taking Thomas to all the places a child dreamed of going—Disney World, Disney Land, and finally, Sesame Place in Pennsylvania. Carol was sure Thomas' little heart was bursting with excitement.

However, now that she was doing okay, Rolf had given her the green light to go out and finally get back into the world. Because he had been afraid of her being susceptible to infections, he had wanted her to stay in the house for two weeks just to be safe. Aiden and Hope visited her every day, but now she was ready to get out. Andre was always out with his "business dealings" as he had put it (whatever that meant), which left her bored to tears. Heck, even Rolf was planning on moving back to wherever it was that he lived.

Bottom line, she was bored out of her skull and had to get out. Soap operas were just way too dramatic, and as for game shows, she didn't care to see others winning money. It wasn't her money, so what difference did it make?

She grabbed her purse and jetted out, so glad to finally see the sunshine. Being cooped up and hidden way in the Dimera mansion for two weeks had made her start to feel like she was a fricking vampire. She smirked. Though she was pretty sure that living with the Dimeras wasn't much different than living with Dracula would be….

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

Hope was bored out of her skull. She knew it was for the babies' safety, but still, she hated not working. Staying home all day was driving her insane. She had gone to visit Carol, but when she arrived at the mansion, Harold had informed her that Miss Jennings had gone out, and he wasn't sure where. For some reason Hope had never thought to get her cell phone number, so that ruled out Carol as someone to hang out with.

Hope had then decided to bring Aiden some lunch. She knew he sometimes got so busy with work that he forgot to eat, so she figured she'd bring him something.

She picked them up some cheese burgers and fries from the Brady pub along with some decaf coffee for her, and a regular coffee for Aiden. She also got them a couple of bottled waters. She then stopped by the bakery and got them each a slice of chocolate cheesecake for dessert.

Finally, she headed to Aiden's office, excited at the prospect of eating lunch together in their special rooftop room.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

Tiffany knocked on Aiden's door. "Excuse me Mr. Jennings? I have to talk to you about something in your schedule."

"Come in, Tiffany," Aiden called from his desk. Everyone else was out to lunch. Actually "everyone" was only two other associates. The others had the day off.

"I thought you'd be off to lunch by now," Aiden said as Tiffany shut the door behind them.

"I wanted to finish up your schedule before going to lunch. I hate to eat when there are still important things that need to be done," Tiffany stated.

Aiden smiled as she sat down in the chair in front of his desk. "That's one of the reasons I chose you as my secretary. I could tell you have the work ethic I was looking for." He smiled and winked at her.

Tiffany grinned. "You're sweet. Anyway, I noticed something that I should have noticed before and didn't. You have to be to court on Friday for the Donelson case. However, you also have to be to be to court on Friday for that lawsuit hearing that Mrs. Peterson has."

"What time is each of them?" Aiden asked.

"That's the problem. One is at nine and the other one is at nine-thirty."

Aiden sighed. "Oh, great! I can't guarantee the first one will only take me a half hour, and it's too late to get a continuance for either one. I guess I'm just going to have to see if Alex can take over for me with Mrs. Peterson. I'll call him and give him all the information he has to know. Since she is just dealing with a lawsuit, the lawyer switch shouldn't matter. Jonathon Donaldson is dealing with a misdemeanor charge, it wouldn't look good to switch _his_ lawyer out so late in the game."

"Would you like me to call Mrs. Peterson and inform her of the change in representation?" Tiffany asked.

Aiden sighed. "I appreciate it, but since this was my fault, I think I should be the one to break it to her. I really don't think she'll mind as long as she gets out of this lawsuit, and I'm sure Alex is just as capable as I am at getting her out of it. Even so, I feel bad."

"You're such a good man. I can't say that about all lawyers," Tiffany said. She leaned over the desk toward him. She lowered her voice even though they were currently the only two people in the office. "Patterson and Jameson was full of the most crooked lawyers I've ever seen," she said referring to the law firm she had worked at prior.

Aiden nodded. "Tell me about it! I knew it was only a matter of time before they were caught doing something illegal. Embezzling money from their clients—it doesn't get any more crooked than that!"

Tiffany nodded. "And now they're out of business and in jail while their fellow inmates are embezzling from _them_. Only their inmates are embezzling a whole different kind of assets if you know what I mean." She winked.

Aiden laughed and Tiffany grinned big; pleased that he had found her joke funny.

 _ **~*came back to me*~**_

Hope entered the office and was surprised to see it void of anybody. Not even Tiffany was at her usual spot behind her desk. She figured everyone had gone off to lunch. However, since the door was left unlocked, she knew Aiden was either in his office still working hard, or possibly upstairs in their room, enjoying some quiet time between clients.

She headed over to his office. The door was closed. She was about to knock when she heard laughter on the other side of the door. One of the laughs was Aiden's, and the other was a female laugh. She knew it was Tiffany's laugh and not a client's because Tiffany had a very distinctive laugh that sounded just like JLO's laugh.

Blinded by jealousy, she opened the door, and gasped when she saw Tiffany leaning over her Aiden's desk, practically on top of it. She was wearing something low-cut as usual, and his eyes were exactly where Tiffany wanted them to be as they laughed together over God knew what.

"What the hell is going on here?" Hope asked, her guard instantly going up.

"Hope!" Aiden practically jumped out of his chair. "What are you doing here?" He sounded nervous as he smiled at her and rushed over to her.

Tiffany sat back down in her chair, a fake smile on her face.

Aiden tried to kiss Hope, but she gently pushed him away. "I came by to bring you lunch," she said coldly.

"That was sweet of you," Aiden said, still sounding nervous.

"You didn't answer my question. What's going on here?" Hope asked, setting down onto the desk the drink tray and food bag, then turning back to face Aiden and crossing her arms over her chest. She impatiently tapped her foot as she waited for an answer.

"We were just discussing how to fix a little snafu. He had to be at two court rooms at the same time," Tiffany answered for Aiden.

Hope shot her a look. "I didn't ask you; I asked my boyfriend. And isn't that top a little unprofessional? Your breasts are out for all to see. Who exactly are you trying to impress?"

Tiffany's mouth dropped open. "I-I…It's just my style. It's the way I always dress. Mr. Jennings never has a problem with it."

Hope imagined herself letting out a blood-curling scream, then jumping on Tiffany and ripping her hair out by the roots. Instead, for the babies' sake, the sake of not getting arrested, the sake of not getting blood all over Aiden's new office, she remained calm. "Well, then maybe you should have been a stripper instead of a lawyers' secretary."

"Hope! Don't be rude!" Aiden chastised. "She's dressed up. My only dress code here is that you can't dress casually."

Hope whipped around to face him again. "Well then maybe you should make one about appropriate and professional dressing!" She nodded at him. Not that you seemed to mind. Don't think I didn't see you ogling her breasts."

"I wasn't ogling her breasts! Hope, you're being ridiculous. You need to apologize to Tiffany right now!" Aiden snapped.

"Don't talk to me like I'm a child!" Hope snapped back.

"Funny, you never seemed to have a problem with Rafe treating you like a child," Aiden quipped. He crossed his arms over his chest in return.

"I can't believe you just said that," Hope said, shaking her head.

Aiden shrugged. "Why not? It's true?"

"I'm going to go to lunch now," Tiffany said. It was very apparent how awkward she felt.

"You do that," Hope sneered at her. "In fact, don't even worry about it. You can continue to flirt with him and flash your breasts at him because clearly that's what he likes. I'll leave you two alone." She started to take off.

"Hope, wait!" Aiden called after her.

Hope turned around and headed back over.

"I knew you'd come to your senses," Aiden said.

Hope shot him a look. "I'm carrying out children. I need to eat." She snatched the food but left the drinks. "You can have the drinks. The coffees are probably cold by now anyway. As for food, I'm sure the stripper wannabe will make sure you're well-fed. And to think, you could have had chocolate cheesecake with me." Hope then left, slamming Aiden's office door behind her.

 _ **~*came back to me*~**_

"I'm sorry you had to witness that. I'm also sorry for all the insults she shot your way," Aiden apologized once Hope was gone.

Tiffany smirked. "It's okay," she said with a shrug. "She's pregnant and hormonal. My sister gets testy like that every time she's pregnant. I won't take it personally."

"I'm sorry also if I was looking at your chest. I didn't even notice that I was," Aiden said with a blush. He caught himself looking again and quickly looked away. "I did it again. I think it's just because they aren't far from my line of view."

Tiffany pat his shoulder in a friendly manner. "It's all right. Maybe your girlfriend had a point. This may not be the most appropriate attire for my like of work. I'll go out and buy some more appropriate work tops tonight."

"I guess that would be best if it bugs my girlfriend that much. At least let me pay for them," Aiden said, reaching for his wallet.

"No, no! It's fine. You're not the only one with money you know." He winked at him.

"I know but…" Aiden trailed off. "I just feel bad is all."

"Well, don't. It's fine, really. I could use more modest clothes anyway so as not to freak out my parents when I come visit them." She smiled and winked at Aiden.

"You know what?" Aiden said to her. "There aren't that many more clients to deal with today. Why don't you take the rest of the day off? I'll still give you the full day's pay of course."

"Really? That would be great! It will give me a chance to do some errands I've been needing to do. I'd really appreciate it. Are you sure you don't mind?" Tiffany asked.

Aiden shook his head. "Not at all. You go run your errands and I will see you in the morning."

"Thank you so much! You're the best boss ever!" she said, going out to her desk and grabbing her purse from the drawer. "I'll see you tomorrow and more modesetly dressed at that!" She said on her way out.

Aiden laughed. "See you tomorrow," he said, waving even though she had her back toward him.

He then headed back in his office, sat down, and made the dreaded call to Mrs. Peterson.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

Carol smiled when she arrived at the café and saw Casey sitting down by himself at one of the tables. She quickly made a bee-line for his table. "Hey there, stranger. How you feeling?"

Casey smiled at her, revealing two perfect white rows of teeth. "I should be asking you that! How's my kidney treating you?"

"So far so good!" Carol crossed her fingers. "Fingers crossed!"

"And Lord-willing," Casey said with a nod. "You eating here too? Please, sit down." He motioned toward the empty chair in front of him.

"Why thank you! Don't mind if I do!" Carol said, taking a seat. "You didn't order yet?" she asked.

Casey shook his head. "No, Ma'am! I just got here a couple minutes before you did."

"So, are you feeling okay?" Carol asked.

Casey nodded. "I'm doin' just fine, thank you. It's a little harder to pee now that I only have one kidney, but I'll be all right."

Carol winced. "It is?"

Casey burst out laughing. "Relax! I was only kidding."

Carol laughed, blushing and feeling slightly embarrassed.

The waitress came over then and handed them both menus.

"I already know what I want, thanks!" Carol and Casey said at the same time.

"Jinx, by me a soda!" Carol said. She laughed. "Remember that?"

"I do remember it! I'll do you one better. I'll pay for your whole lunch," Casey said.

Carol shook her head. "No way. You just gave me your kidney. The least I can do is pay for your lunch!" She turned to the waitress. "I'll have the egg salad on white. Make sure there are no olives. I hate olives! Oh and a blueberry lemonade to drink please."

"No way!" Casey said.

"What?" Carol asked with a grin.

"That is exactly what I was going to order" Casey said. "Only I want milk with mine. And put them both on one check please. I'm buyin'."

The waitress wrote it down.

"Casey, I told you I would pay!" Carol objected.

"I know, but I just can't let a woman pay. I simply wasn't raised that way," Casey said.

The waitress smiled. "I'll put your orders right in!" She then went off to do just that.

"Well, thank you. You really didn't have to do that, you know," Carol said.

"Not only did I have to, but I also wanted to," Casey said. "It's the southern thing to do."

"I never did ask you where you're from," Carol stated.

Casey sat up proud. "Montgomery Alabama, born and raised! I moved out here just for a change of scenery. I got a contracting job out there to help build the new mall a few years back. I fell in love with Salem, and decided to stick around for a bit."

"Do you have any family out here or friends?" Carol asked.

Casey shook his head. "No, Ma'am! It's just me and my dog Jake." He grinned. "He's a golden retriever and the cutest thing you'll ever lay eyes on."

Carol rested her chin on her hand and stared into his eyes. "Don't you ever get lonely?"

Casey shook his head. "No, not really. I've always been a bit of a loner. Though, once in a while, it's kind of nice when a pretty lady like you comes along to have lunch with me."

Carol blushed and smiled. "And so far, I'm enjoying having lunch with a handsome kidney donor. Or rather, waiting for lunch anyway."

They both laughed.

"Stick around and I promise you'll enjoy it even more," Casey said, reaching across the table and putting his hand over her free wrist. He flashed his perfect white teeth again.

Carol flashed her own teeth, feeling her cheeks warm again.

 _ **~*came back to me*~**_

Hope crossed her arms and put on her best cross expression as she heard Aiden enter the house. She didn't even look when he greeted her.

"You're still mad," he stated, coming over to her.

"Tell me something I don't know," Hope said coldly.

"Aren't you going to at least look at me?" Aiden asked her.

Hope raised an eyebrow, her arms still crossed over her chest. "Nope!"

Aiden sighed. "I was hoping it didn't have to come to this, but here goes…."

Hope still refused to look until she heard him suddenly start to sing.

"How can I just let you walk away? Just leave without a trace? When I stand here taking very breath with you. Oo oo…"

Hope finally looked at him. He had a huge bouquet of purple and pink tulips I his hands. "Aiden, what are you doing?"

"How can you just walk away from me when all I can do is watch you leave? Cuz we've shared the laughter and the pain, and even shed the tears. You're the only one who really knew me at all."

"Aiden, stop. This is serious!" Hope said, taking the flowers from him.

Aiden still continued to ignore her and sing. "So take a look at me now! Well there's just an empty space. And there's nothing left here to remind me; just a memory of your face. Oh, take a look at me now! Well there's just an _empty_ space. And you coming back to me is against the odds, and it's what I've got to face…"

"Aiden… Stop it…" Hope's anger was slowly starting to crumble.

"I wish I could just make you turn around—turn around and see me cry. There's so much I need to say to you. So many reasons why. You're the—"

Hope cut him off with a passionate kiss to the lips. "I forgive you! Just stop singing." She rested her forehead against his.

"Was I that bad?" Aiden asked.

"No, you were decent. I just don't want to cry, and you're going to make me cry if you keep it up," Hope said, getting emotional.

Aiden gently wiped the tears from her eyes with his thumbs. "Don't cry, Baby. I'm sorry I hurt you today. I didn't mean to scold you like a child. I also didn't mean to stare at Tiffany's chest. Her breasts were just in my line of view."

"They don't hold a candle to mine anyway," Hope said, suddenly feeling her annoyance come back.

"I'm sure they don't! I didn't really pay attention to hers, but after seeing yours, I have no doubt!" Aiden assured her.

Hope raised an eyebrow. "I'm listening. Please, continue with your apology."

"I told Tiffany it would be best that she start dressing more conservatively," Aiden replied.

Hope raised an eyebrow. "You did?"

Aiden blushed. "Well, she suggested she should and I told her that would be a good idea from now on."

"I don't like her calling you Mr. Jennings either. That's _my_ name for you," Hope said.

Aiden nodded. "She's just being professional, but fine. She will call me Aiden from now on. We really were just talking about a case, Hope."

"Why was she leaning in so close?" Hope pouted.

"She was telling me something about the other law firm she used to work for that she didn't want anyone else overhearing," Aiden explained. "We were laughing in regards to that."

"No one else was around to hear," Hope gently argued.

"Well, anyone could have come back from lunch at any time. Heck, you came over," Aiden said simply.

Hope nodded. "Fair enough."

"I would never ever cheat on you, Hope. I promise you, there is no one I love more than you, and no one who is more beautiful than you are in my eyes." Aiden walked over to her and gently stroked her hair. "I promise you!"

Hope's expression softened. She set the flowers down on the couch. "I know. I'm sorry I overreacted. I'll apologize to Tiffany tomorrow. I'm just feeling so emotional lately! I don't know what's wrong with me!"

"Well, for starters you're pregnant. Then there's the whole thing with Ciara. You have a lot on your plate right now. It's understandable," Aiden assured her, gently rubbing her back.

"I'm sorry I took your lunch. Did you get to eat?" Hope asked, gently stroking his hair. "I'm also sorry I ate your cheesecake." She blushed. "The babies wanted it."

"Well, who am I to deny them it?" Aiden asked with a smile. "Don't worry. I had Alex bring me a sandwich." He kissed Hope's forehead. "So, did you like being sung to? Your father told me once that he sings to Julie to make her not angry with him. I figured I'd try it out on you."

Hope wrapped her arms around him and kissed him. "I loved it!" She rested her forehead against his. "It was the perfect song choice too."

Aiden smiled. "It was my favorite song as a teen. Carol always used to tease me about it even though I know she loved it too."

Hope laughed. "Just let me go put these flowers in water, then maybe we can officially make up?" She bat her long eyelashes at him. "If you know what I mean?"

"Mm… Make it quick," he murmured against her neck.

Hope licked her lips. "I will." She picked up the flowers, closed her eyes, and inhaled the sweet scent. Then she ran to the kitchen and put them in a vase of fresh water.

When she came back out of the kitchen, she ran toward Aiden who picked her up in his arms and kissed her passionately the whole way up the stairs as she wrapped her arms around him and hungrily kissed him in return.


	45. S2E20

_**This Love…**_

 _ **Season 2 Episode 20: One Way or Another**_

"How do I look?" Tiffany asked with a grin as she entered the office that day. She held out her arms and twirled around revealing nude tights, black heels, a knee-length black pencil skirt, and a white blouse that was lose and flowy tucked into her shirt and secured with a thin black patent leather belt. Only the first two buttons of her blouse were unbuttoned, revealing a diamond necklace. "Modest enough?"

Aiden nodded. "That is perfect!

"It's so not my style but my mother told me I finally look like a lady when I texted her a picture of me in this outfit," Tiffany stated as she put her purse I her desk.

"That seems like kind of a backhanded compliment for your mother to give," Aiden noted.

Tiffany nodded. "She means well, and I know she loves me, but she's a very blunt, tell it like it is kind of person. She thinks it's better to be honest than to worry about stepping on any toes or hurting any feelings. That's just the way she is though. I don't take it personally."

"Sounds like my sister," Aiden said with a laugh. "So, is there anything on my schedule for today that I should know about?" he asked as he searched through the mail from yesterday that he hadn't gotten around to looking through.

"Other than a few client meetings, you have nothing other than the lawyer's banquet tonight at the Waterfront Grill," Tiffany replied.

Aiden's eyes widened. "That's tonight? But I thought it wasn't until the twenty-third!"

Tiffany smirked, and motioned to her word of the day desk calendar. "Today _is_ the twenty-third. You can't miss it. It's a requirement if you're looking to gain new clients."

The lawyer's banquet was an annual open to the public formal banquet where lawyers from all the local law firms met for dinner and dancing to mingle with potential clients. Anyone who was interested in finding a good lawyer with first being easily able to weigh all their options, could purchase a $50 ticket which included their dinner, dessert, an open bar, and access to all the lawyers. All proceeds for the tickets went to charity. A different charity was picked each year. Last year the money went to St. Jude's. This year it went to a local animal shelter that needed renovation money so that they could take in more homeless animals.

"I'll go even though I hate these things. I'm good at what I do, but I never know the right things to say to potential clients. It's easy when they already decided I'm the lawyer they want. But trying to sell myself when I have dozens of other just as capable lawyers… It's nerve-wracking. I never know what to say when they ask me what makes me better than any of the other lawyers," Aiden confessed.

Tiffany sat down at her desk and rested her elbows on top of it. "Well, how about this? Not only did you graduate at the top of your class and have many years of experience, but you also care about your clients. They aren't just clients to you. They become like family, and there is nothing more important to you that making sure that your family is taken care of, and that they get the justice they deserve. Trust me, people love to know someone cares even if it's a stranger." She winked and smiled.

Aiden nodded. "That's actually a really good answer! How did you know I graduated at the top of my class and have many years of experience?"

"I do my research on all my bosses," Tiffany stated. She then grinned. "Besides, it's on our firm's website. Weren't you the one to create it?"

Aiden shook his head. "My sister Carol took care of everything. She's way more tech savvy than I am. I mean, I know the basic things that I need to know as a lawyer of course, but as far as creating Web-sites, I let her handle that. Anyway, I hate going to these things alone. Do you think you could come with me? You always know just the right thing to say. I'd feel a lot more at ease with you there."

"But what about Hope? Won't she want to go with you?" Tiffany asked.

Aiden sighed. "I love my girlfriend, but she isn't as good at talking to clients as you are. You've got experience with law firms, so you've picked up on things. Sure, Hope knows a few things from being a cop, but I'd really feel more comfortable with someone who knows the law field better."

"Well, sure! I've got nothing better to do tonight. I think a banquet and dancing sounds fun! Who do I give the money to?" Tiffany asked.

"You can purchase a ticket at the door. I'll pay for you since you're doing this for me," Aiden told her. I know you have your own money, but please let me do this to return the favor."

"You really don't have to return any favor. I don't mind helping out our firm; not to mention the homeless animals. But all right. I'll meet you there outside the Waterfront Grill's doors at six. Is that good?" Tiffany asked.

Aiden nodded. "Six is perfect."

They grinned at each other.

"Here's to gaining tons of new clients!" Tiffany said, pretending to toast.

Aiden laughed and held out his own pretend glass. "To gaining tons of new clients!"

They pretend toasted, then pretend drank up.

The phone rang then, and Tiffany answered it as Aiden headed back into his office to prepare for his next client meeting.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

Andre didn't like what he was seeing. He was getting a coffee at the café on his way to the next business meeting, when he saw Casey and Carol sitting down at one of the tables. They were laughing together about something, and Casey was pushing some hair out of her eyes.

"What the hell?" he asked under his breath.

"Here's your coffee, Mr. Dimera," the clerk said to him.

"Thank you. Keep the change," Andre said, dropping the clerk a twenty, then heading over to Carol and Casey's table. "Well isn't this interesting. What bring you two together?"

Casey and Carol both looked up at him in surprise.

"Andre, Darling! I thought you were at work," Carol said, a little flustered. She nervously fluffed her hair.

"I was. I just wanted to get a coffee between meetings." He turned to Casey. "Why are you sitting here with my girlfriend?"

Casey shrugged. "Why not? A pretty lady shouldn't have to eat alone. She and I are both free, so we like to have lunch together every weekday.

Andre didn't like this one bit! "Don't you have a job?" he snarled.

Casey nodded. "That I do! But I get a lunchbreak just like everyone else." He winked and smiled at Andre.

"Casey and I have so much in common! Plus he keeps me entertained while you're away. We've become such good friends!" Carol cooed.

"Well, it's easy to be friends with someone as beautiful and special as you," Casey said. He took Carol's hand and kissed it, causing her to giggle.

"I think I may vomit!" Andre grumbled. He looked at his watch. "Enjoy the rest of your lunch." He eyed them both up and down.

"Bye, Darling," Carol said, though she was still smiling at Casey, who made a funny face at her. She laughed.

"Don't I get a kiss goodbye?" Andre asked.

"Hm?" Carol looked at him.

"Don't I get a kiss goodbye?" Andre repeated himself a little louder.

"Oh! Of course." Carol gave him a quick peck on the lips. "See you later tonight!"

Andre didn't look pleased. "Yes, you shall," he said simply before taking off to his meeting. When he looked back he saw Casey whisper something to Carol, which made her laugh again. She pushed some hair behind her ear and blushed.

Andre felt the anger well up inside of him. How dare Casey flirt with his woman? Well, nobody stole a lover from a Dimera! That was one of the things Stefano had taught him well. He would go the nice route for both Carol's and for Thomas' sakes. After all, he really did want to be a better person for them. Still, it was up to Casey whether he played it the easy way or the hard way.

 _ **~*came back to me*~**_

"You're home early," Hope said with a smile as she entered the house and set the keys down on the lampstand beside the door.

Aiden nodded. "I got done with my client meetings early. I didn't have many planned today because tonight is the lawyer's banquet."

"Oh! That's tonight? I thought it was the twenty-third!" Hope said.

Aiden nodded. "It _is_ the twenty-third. I did the same thing you did; not realizing today was the twenty-third."

"What time is it? I don't know if I have time to go out and buy a new dress," Hope took off her jacket and draped it over the back of the couch.

"Actually, Baby, I invited Tiffany to go with me." Aiden winced in preparation for the verbal assault that was sure to come out of Hope's mouth.

"Excuse me?" Hope asked, immediately crossing her arms, and giving him the eyebrow raise.

"Here me out!" Aiden said, holding his hands up. "Tiffany has experience working at law firms. She knows what to say to clients to get them persuaded to take me on."

Hope laughed bitterly. "I bet her persuasiveness has something to do with her body language."

Aiden ignored her comment. "As much as I'd love to have you by my side, this is really something Tiffany is more suited for. It's just a boring old banquet held solely for the sake of giving to charity and scouting new clients. Trust me; you'd be bored while I talked to all the potential clients."

"Fine. It's clear you don't want me to go, so I won't! Tiffany is much younger and prettier than me, so just take her for your arm candy instead!" Hope snapped, tears welling up in her eyes.

"Oh, Baby, don't do that. You know I can't stand it when you cry!" Aiden said, rushing over to her. He took her in his arms.

"You don't want to show me off because I'm getting fatter! Just admit it!" Hope cried.

"Baby, you know that's just the hormones talking. I meant what I said before. Pregnant or not, to me, you are and always will be the most beautiful woman to ever walk the planet! Baby, Tiffany is just a colleague helping me get the clients I need. I promise you, there is nothing going on between her and me, nor will there ever be." He wiped her tears away with his thumbs, then kissed the tear-tracks. "I love you and only you, Baby. You're my everything! Just give me this one night, then tomorrow night you and I can spend the whole evening together just the two of us doing anything you'd like to do. Okay?"

Hope sniffled, but nodded. "All right."

"That's my Baby." Aiden kissed her softly on the lips. "Are our babies doing okay today?" He gently placed his hands over her stomach.

Hope nodded.

He kissed her forehead. "Good! Now I have to go get ready. But tomorrow, I'm all yours!" He kissed her once more, then ran up the stairs to change.

"I'm going to go visit Jen!" Hope called up the stairs. "I might as well see if she wants to do dinner tonight since you won't be here."

"Have fun! I'll see you when I get back!" Aiden called down.

Hope then grabbed her jacket and keys, then left the house. Only it wasn't Jennifer she planned on going to see…

 _ **~*came back to me*~**_

"What is it you wanted to see me about? I'm not trying to be rude, but my neighbor has a leaky toilet she needs me to tend to, and I'd like to get it done tonight," Casey said to Andre who had summoned him to the mansion.

Andre wrinkled his nose. "So you're a plumber now?"

Casey shook his head. "No, Sir! I'm technically a construction worker, but I grew up curious. I learned how to do a whole bunch of things. There's not much I can't fix! I never was one for bragging, but it's just statin' facts saying I'm a Jack of all trades."

"Do you make much money doing your line of work?" Andre asked.

Casey shrugged. "I make enough to get by on. I'm surely not rich, but I have a roof over my head and food in mine and my dog's bellies, so I really can't complain."

"I know you have a good chunk of change that I gave you for your kidney," Andre quipped.

"I gave it to my Mama back home. She's struggling a little bit ever since my dad died. I like to help her out whenever I can," Casey explained.

"How noble," Andre said, not appearing to care either way. "Well, how would you like a million dollars more?"

Casey grinned. "Sorry, but I need my other kidney," he winked, then snorted at his own joke.

Andre grinned. "No organ is needed this time. I just need you to do one simple little task for me. Nothing much, really!"

"And what would that be?" Casey asked.

Andre looked him in the eyes, his expression serious. "I want you to stop hanging out with Carol. You gave her your kidney, and I paid you handsomely for it. It was nothing more than a business transaction. You are no longer needed in her life."

"With all due respect, Mr. Dimera, Carol is a grown woman and can decide who it is she hangs with and doesn't hang with," Casey said gently.

"I am her boyfriend—she doesn't need another one!" Andre snapped.

"I'm just trying to be her friend. You're never around for her, so I am!" Casey said simply, his southern charm suddenly disappearing with his smile.

"That is none of your business!" Andre snapped back.

Casey nodded. "But it is when she is my friend."

"Oh, please! You've only known her for less than a month!" Andre snapped.

"It doesn't matter. Carol and I are friends, and unless she decides otherwise, that's the way it's going to stay. And no, I am not the kind of guy to take money to desert a friend. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a neighbor that needs my help!" Casey said.

Andre glared at him.

"I'll see myself out," Casey said before leaving.

"That's the way it's going to stay? We'll just see about that…" Andre muttered angrily to himself.

 _ **~*came back to me*~**_

"Have you reconsidered my offer?" Andre asked as he opened the door. Harold had the night off, so when there was a knock on the door, Andre had been the one to answer it. However, instead of finding Casey on the other side, he found Hope.

Hope raised an eyebrow and smirked. "Dare I ask?"

Andre sighed; exasperated. "What do you want, Hope?"

Hope raised an eyebrow again. "Hello to you too. I have a favor to ask of you."

"A favor? That's rich coming from the woman who murdered my father and framed me for it." Andre rolled his eyes. "You're lucky my curiosity is getting the best of me. Come in." He stepped back, allowing Hope in.

"Remember, your father was last seen alive," Hope replied.

"My father is dead. I don't care what proof Shane and Steve supposedly had. My father would never just walk out on Chad or myself with no word to us. Anyway, even if he were alive, it doesn't change the fact that you tried to kill him and thought you killed him. Then you framed me because you didn't want to do the time," Andre said as he shut the door.

"Oh, like you're completely innocent! I know you've done stuff to me that I couldn't prove that should have landed you in jail. Setting my house on fire, strapping Rafe to a bomb and almost killing us both… just to name a few," Hope stated. "You deserve to be in jail regardless!"

Andre crossed his arms over his chest. "First of all, you can't prove any of those were me. Second of all, no one asked you to go to Rafe's rescue, so don't blame me for your own stupidity. Third, why is it you think _I_ should go to jail for _my_ crimes, but you should get off scot-free for yours? Hm?"

Hope sighed. "I shouldn't have come here. This was a mistake. Sorry to have wasted your time." She tried to leave, but Andre grabbed her arm.

"Not so fast! I want to hear what favor it is you wanted to ask me," he said.

She turned around and grabbed her arm roughly away from him. "Don't touch me! I was just going to ask you if you could find some way to make Aiden's secretary Tiffany Yates unable to attend the lawyers' banquet that is going on tonight. Aiden asked her to go with him. Something about she knows what to say to potential clients better than he does. I don't like the idea of her going with him. She is a trashy woman, and I know she's after Aiden! I see the way she dresses and looks around him."

Andre raised an eyebrow. "Why me? You don't even like me, and I _certainly_ don't like you."

"You're the only one I know of who can get things like that done. Trust me, it's killing me to ask you this." Hope looked away.

"And why should I help you?" Andre asked.

Hope looked at him. "Because I will stop badmouthing you to Carol and tell her that you really have seemed to have change for the better…a little. I'm not going to say you've changed completely because that's just not believable. She'd see right through me."

Andre thought about it for a moment, then nodded. "Fair enough! Say I do help you. What exactly do you want me to have done to this Tiffany lady? Surely you don't want to have her killed?"

Hope's face paled. "What? No! Don't you dare, Andre!"

Andre grinned big; amused. "Oh, relax, Hope, would you? I don't kill people. Anyway, I told you, I'm a changed man. How about I flatten her tires?"

Hope shook her head. "Aiden could just pick her up or she could get an Uber.

"I could make her sick. Just a little ipecac slipped into her drink…" Andre trailed off.

"How would you do that?" Hope asked, and eyebrow raised.

"You leave that to me," Andre said.

Hope nodded. She felt guilty, but right now, her worry over Tiffany trying to steal Aiden from her outweighed her morals. "We never spoke," she said to Andre.

Andre rolled his eyes. "Just remember to keep up your end of the bargain," he said as he led her to the door.

Hope looked at him. "Keep Tiffany away for the night, and I'll be singing your praises to Carol in the morning." She then left, hearing the door click shut behind her. She could hardly believe she had just made a deal with Andre Dimera of all people. But desperate times called for desperate measures.

 _ **~*came back to me*~**_

"When did you get here?" Andre asked as Carol walked into the family room.

"Just now. How are you today, My Love?" Carol asked as she tried to hug Andre.

Andre stepped back. "I'll be a whole lot better if you promise to stop seeing Casey."

Carol scrunched her eyebrows in confusion. "What do you mean stay away from him?"

"What I mean is no more lunches with him or hanging out with him. There's no need to! You got his kidney from him and that is all you needed," Andre informed her, his tone serious.

Carol was unperturbed. "Well, Casey and I are friends now, so I _want_ to hang out with him more. He's a cool guy. You should get to know him better. I'm sure you'd like him."

"You already have a boyfriend! You don't need to be looking for another!" Andre snapped.

Carol laughed. "Is that what you're worried about?" Oh, please, Andre! Just because I have lunch with another guy and talk to him, it doesn't mean I'm interested in him in that way! Guys and girls _can_ just be friends, you know."

Andre shook his head. "Well, it makes me uncomfortable the way he looks at you and touches you. I'd rather you stop being him. You may not like him in that way, but I have no doubt that he is starting to fall for you."

"You're being ridiculous, Andre," Carol said. She rubbed her forehead as if she were getting a headache.

"Am I?" Andre asked. "Stop seeing him. If you love me, you'll do this for me."

Carol sighed. "You know I love you, Andre, but I will not be told whom I can and cannot see. Casey is my friend, and that's all there is to it! You just have to trust me on this one. Now, are we going out to dinner together or not?"

Andre crossed his arms over his chest. "I suppose so."

Carol nodded. "Good!" She kissed his cheek. "Now wipe that stupid pout off your face. We're going to have fun tonight. I just have to go to the bathroom and make a quick call, then we can go."

As soon as Carol left, Andre uncrossed his arms and scowled. He had tried doing it the easy way, but neither Casey nor Carol was willing to cooperate. So now it looked like it was time for the old Andre to make an appearance. He wanted to be a better person. He really did. But desperate times called for desperate measures.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

Hope smiled when her phone rang and she saw that it was Aiden. She picked up and tried her best to sound casual. "Aiden, what's up? I thought that you'd be at the banquet by now." Hope looked at the clock. It was five minutes past the time it was supposed to start.

"Did Tiffany show up there?" Aiden asked.

"No. Was she supposed to?" Hope asked innocently.

"No, she was supposed to meet me here, but she never showed up, nor did she call," Aiden replied. "I thought maybe she got confused thought she and I were meeting and the house instead."

"Well, she'd not here. Hm… Maybe something came up?" Hope suggested with a smirk.

"Maybe. Still, I would think she'd have called me. I tried calling her and got no answer. It's odd."

"If you want, I can check your office building to see if she's there. I'll text you if she is," Hope offered.

"Would you?" Aiden asked. "That would be great! Thanks, Baby. I owe you one."

Hope checked her gold watch. "No problem. I love you."

"I love you too. I guess I'll just go in now," Aiden told her. "I'll leave my phone on vibrate."

"All right. I'll text you as soon as I check!" Hope said.

They hung up, then Hope checked her reflection in the full-length mirror. Her hair was in an up do just like it had been when she and Aiden had danced at the gala years ago. Only this time, she was wearing a beautiful red silk low-cut dress. Tiffany wasn't the only one who could flaunt what she had!

Hope smiled at her reflection, then headed out of the house and straight for the lawyers' banquet. She'd show Aiden she could be just as good at selling him as Tiffany could be!


	46. S2E21

_**This Love…**_

 _ **Season 2 Episode 21: Wanted Dead or Alive**_

Hope bought a ticket to the lawyers' banquet, then entered. It looked like they were just getting around to serving dinner. She stood in the doorway and surveyed the room. She smiled when she saw Aiden sitting at a table full of colleagues. He hadn't noticed her yet. The seat to his right was empty.

"The guest tables are right this way, Ma'am," a tuxedo-clad host kindly greeted her.

Hope smiled at him. "Thank you, but I will be sitting with my boyfriend, Aiden Jennings of Jennings and Associates."

"Ah yes. Miss Tiffany? He told me to look out for you," the host said.

Hope narrowed her eyes. "Tiffany is not his girlfriend."

The host didn't seem to get it. "Wife then? Sorry. I didn't see a ring, so I just assumed he wasn't married. Though I know I shouldn't assume. Some married couples don't wear rings. Heck, my parents never did. I—"

Hope cut him off. She had no time for his ramblings. "Tiffany is not is girlfriend _or_ his wife. I'm Hope Brady, and _I'm_ his girlfriend. Tiffany is just his secretary and unable to make it tonight. I'm here in her place."

The host blushed. "So sorry. I don't really know any of these people, much less who they're dating. I just assumed Tiffany was a girlfriend."

"It's okay. Just take me to him please," Hope said, already annoyed.

The host led her over to Aiden. "Your girlfriend has arrived, Sir," he said as he held the chair out for Hope.

Aiden's eyes got wide.

Hope smiled. "Thank you." She sat down and let the host push her chair back in. "That will be all," she said when he was done.

The host blushed again, then left.

"Hope, what are you doing here?" Aiden asked with a weak smile.

Hope smiled back. "I couldn't let you go alone. Tiffany wasn't at your office, so I figured I'd just surprise you here." She kissed his cheek, and gently rubbed his thigh under the table. "You know I love seeing you in action."

Aiden took a sip of his ice water. "It was so sweet of you to come, and I love you for it, but really, Baby, you didn't have to. I guess I have to figure out how to talk to clients on my own anyway. It's not good for business if I don't." He gently rubbed her (bare from the open back of her dress) back. "Why don't we enjoy our dinner and dessert together, maybe share a dance or two, then you can go home and rest while you wait for me to come home? I don't want you to be bored while I talk to my potential clients."

"It's okay. I'm not tired in the slightest! It seems like all I do is rest nowadays. I want to help you with your clients!" Hope grinned at him, then hungrily looked at her antipasto salad that was just set before her. "Mm… Looks delicious!" She dug into her salad, not noticing Aiden's pained expression.

 _ **~*came back to me*~**_

"Here you go boy," Casey said as he fed his dog Jake his favorite kibble. He rubbed the golden retriever on the head, then went to take his trash out. "I'll be right back, boy," he said as he grabbed the trash bags and headed out the door.

He picked up Ms. Davis' trash, which she had left outside her door for him with a basket of still warm chocolate chip cookies. He noticed the basket had a note on it that read, _Thank you!_

He smiled. She was such a sweetheart, always trying to repay him for the things he did for her. Honestly, he was just happy to help out an old woman in need.

He left the cookies there for the time being, and headed out of the apartment complex to the dumpster out back.

He thought he heard footsteps behind him, but when he looked, he saw no one.

He hoisted the trash bags up into the dumpster, then paused when he heard a rustling in the woodsy area to the right of the dumpster. "Whose there?"

There was no response. He hoisted the last bag into the dumpster, then let the lid slam shut. He jumped a mile when he heard a cat angrily cry out and dash out from the woods.

"My goodness, Mr. Peepers, you had me scared half to death!" Casey picked the cat up. "I'm sorry. I must have scared you too when I slammed the dumpster." He kissed the cat's head and gently stroked it, causing the greyish black cat to purr. "You better get back home to momma. You know how she worries when you're out too late." With one more kiss, Casey set the cat down.

Mr. Peepers then ran away toward the apartment he lived in. His owner was a sweet woman who lived with her daughter. They had been granted special permission to get a cat door installed in their first floor apartment's back door, which was how the cat traveled in and out. It had only been allowed because the woman was the daughter of the landlord, and her daughter of course, was the landlord's granddaughter.

Casey smiled as he saw the cat disappear into its owner's house by way of said cat door. He then looked forward and gasped as he saw a tall, burley man wearing black ski mask.

"Stay away from Carol or else you and your mother will regret it," the man said in a deep, unrecognizable voice.

Before Casey could react, another just as burly man who was also wearing a ski mask, wacked him in the face with a two-by-four.

The last thing he remembered was slumping to the ground.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

After dessert, Hope and Aiden enjoyed some dancing. Things had gone all right during dinner and dessert. Aiden started to relax a little. Hope had been cordial and very pleasant to both his colleagues, and even some of the lawyers from his competition.

"It's a shame Tiffany couldn't make it tonight," Hope said.

Aiden raised an eyebrow. "Oh? I'm surprised to hear you say that."

Hope grinned. "Okay, I don't really mean that. I'm actually glad I get so sit in for her. Tonight has been so much fun!" She rested her head on Aiden's shoulder as they gently swayed from side to side. "I hardly get to spend any time with you anymore. You're always working, and I'm always stuck home doing nothing but watching TV." She looked him in the eyes. "You know, lying inactive makes me tired all the time. I just hate lying around!"

"Can't you go out with Carol, Kayla, or Jen?" Aiden asked.

Hope pouted. "They're always working, and you know Carol. She's always out and about somewhere. She has no time for me either."

Aiden kissed the top of her head. "I'm sorry I'm so busy lately, Baby. I'm just really trying to get my law firm off the ground. Things will slow down soon. It's just busy for now since I'm just getting started." He kissed her softly on the lips. "You know I love you, right?"

Hope grinned. "How could I not? You tell me every day."

"In case I haven't told you today yet, I love you." He kissed her softly on the lips.

Hope closed her eyes and smiled as she rested her forehead against his.

The song ended, and the host for the evening announced that it was time for the mingling with potential clients part of the night to begin.

"Are you nervous?" Hope asked, gently rubbing his back.

Aiden nodded. "A little, but it's just part of the business. Right?"

Hope kissed his cheek. "You'll do fine."

A woman came up to them then and turned to Hope first. "Are you a lawyer?"

Hope smiled brightly, and shook her head. "No, but my boyfriend is. Mr. Aiden Jennings. Have you heard of him?"

The lady tapped her lips. "You're new here, right?" she asked, turning to Aiden.

Aiden held out his hand to her. "I just started my firm, but I've been practicing law for years."

The woman hesitantly shook his hand. "I'm Melinda Perkins. I need help with my divorce, but I need a really good lawyer—one who is really good at what he does, and who is well past just practicing."

Hope laughed, causing Melinda to glare at her.

Hope cleared her throat. "I'm sorry. I don't mean to laugh. When he says practicing, he doesn't mean literally practicing like practicing piano. It's a term lawyer's use for being in the field. He's been a lawyer for many years and has all the credentials he needs to handle your case," she explained.

"Well I'm not stupid. I just didn't know," Melinda said crossly, her arms crossed over her chest and a scowl on her face.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to imply that you were," Hope said with a blush.

"I think I'm going to find someone else." With that Melinda took off.

Hope winced at Aiden. "I'm sorry, my love. I didn't mean—"

Aiden cut her off as he gently rubbed her back. "Don't even worry about it. I don't like working for grumpy old bags anyway."

Hope grinned and he kissed her.

Throughout the night, more clients came by and slowly but surely, Aiden was able to build his confidence and convince quite a few of them to take him on. Hope had done a little bit of the talking, but for the most part she had let him do what he did best.

"See?" Hope said with a smile as she gently rubbed his back. "You're better at this than you think!" She winked at him.

Aiden grinned. "What can I say? Having my beautiful girlfriend beside me must be giving me the extra boost of confidence that I needed." He pulled her in for yet another kiss.

Hope hungrily kissed him back.

"Oh my gosh, is that Giles Madison?" Aiden asked quietly.

Hope raised an eyebrow. "I don't know. Who's Giles Madison?"

"He's one of the wealthiest residents of Salem. He founded and owns Purple Dragon ice cream," Aiden explained.

"Really? I love Purple Dragon ice cream! They have so many amazing flavors, and they are better than all the other brands! I didn't know the creator lives in Salem!" Hope exclaimed.

Aiden smirked. "I didn't realize how into ice cream you are."

"Even more so now that I'm pregnant again." Hope rubbed her stomach and licked her lips at the thought of a bowl or two of strawberry banana ice cream.

Giles Madison walked over to Aiden and shook his hand. "Hello, Mr. Jennings. I'm Giles Madison. I own—"

Aiden cut him off. "Purple Dragon ice cream! I know who you are. You know who I am?" Aiden asked; surprised.

Mr. Madison nodded. "Indeed! I did a little research before attending this event. I need a lawyer to help me manage all my contracts with my distributors and also with the various legal matters involved in owning a company. I need someone who knows what he is doing and is willing to work hard."

"I'm more than sure I can be that lawyer for you, Mr. Madison," Aiden assured him.

"I don't want just some run of the mill lawyer. I only use the best of the best! How long have you been practicing?" Mr. Madison asked.

"Twenty-One Years now," Aiden informed him. "And rarely have I ever lost a case."

Mr. Giles nodded. "Impressive! I also read you have a new law firm?"

Aiden nodded. "Yes, Sir! I just opened it up a couple of months ago. I already have a good amount of satisfied clients. I can give you references if you need them."

Mr. Giles smiled. "I like you already! Is your law firm building nice? You know, I can tell a lot about a lawyer from the way he keeps his firm."

Hope answered for Aiden. "Oh yes it is! You should come see it!"

"And who are you?" Mr. Giles asked her with a kind smile.

"I'm his girlfriend. I'm also the number one fan of your ice cream," Hope said with a grin.

Mr. Madison grinned as well. "Charming."

"It's a beautiful building equipped with all the latest technology. It's huge! He has so many rooms, I bet he doesn't even use half of them," Hope told him.

"Is that so?" Mr. Madison asked, sounding interested.

Hope nodded. "He has the most stunning rooftop. It's surrounded by glass. He's even turned it into a little mini apartment for him and I to enjoy."

Aiden paled a little. "Not that we use it much."

Hope gave him a weird look. "What are you talking about? We use it all the time!" She turned her attention back to Mr. Madison. "It's nice because I can visit him at work during lunchtime, then we get to take a nice break together just up the stairs in our room. Sometimes I don't want him to go back down to work. It's nice being able to hang out with my boyfriend even when it's a work day for him."

"But of course I do go back to work! I only go up there on my lunchbreak, and after hours," Aiden quickly chimed in.

Mr. Madison shook his head. "I'm sorry. You seem like a great lawyer, but I need someone I can trust to take his job seriously."

"And I do!" Aiden said. "There is nothing I take more seriously than my job besides my family."

Mr. Madison shook his head. "That's the problem. I need someone who will fully be able to concentrate on the task at hand. I can't have my lawyer distracted by mid-day trysts with his girlfriend. I don't like my lawyers mixing business with pleasure."

"Oh, but it's not like that! He only stays with me on his lunchbreak, then goes straight back to work even when I want him to stay up there with me!" Hope tried to assure him.

Mr. Madison sighed. "I'm sorry. I'm going to have to go with someone else," he said to Aiden. "I just can't trust you to have a clear head when you've got your girlfriend on your mind and right upstairs waiting for you at that! Thank you for being such a fan of my ice cream though. I'll have my secretary send you some coupons for a couple free gallons of your choice." He then walked over to Aiden's biggest competitor. Jeffery Haynes.

Aiden quietly cussed underneath his breath. "Having him as a client really could have boosted my reputation!"

Hope gently latched onto his arm. "I'm _so_ sorry, Aiden. I didn't mean to—"

Aiden looked at her. "You know what? It's fine. What's done is done. Let's just try to salvage the rest of the night."

Hope felt horrible. "Maybe I should just go home."

Aiden nodded. "Maybe you should. I'll be home shortly."

Hope almost looked like she had tears in her eyes.

Aiden noticed she was upset. He sighed, and pulled her close, then kissed her softly on the lips. "Don't worry about it. I know you were just trying to help. If he can't accept you being in all aspects of my life, then he wasn't the client for me anyway." He gently wiped her tears with his thumbs.

Hope hugged him tightly, then kissed his cheek. "Thank you for saying that," she murmured in his ear. "Don't be long."

"Just give me a half hour then I'll come straight home to you. I love you," he murmured, gently stroking her hair.

"I love you too," Hope murmured.

They kissed once more lovingly on the lips, then Hope went home, and Aiden tried to get what few remaining possible clients he could get.

 _ **~*came back to me*~**_

The next day, Carol arrived at the café, happy to be seeing Casey again for their lunch date. However, he wasn't sitting at their usual table, or any table for that matter.

She sat down at their table.

A waitress came right over. "Hi! What would you like to drink today?"

"I'll just have an ice water with lemon for now please," Carol said, distracted.

"Coming right up!" the waitress replied with a cheery smile before walking off to get her water.

Carol looked at her watch. He was only a couple minutes late. She figured maybe he had just gotten tied up at work. But once her water arrived, five minutes had passed.

"I'll flag you down when I'm ready to order. I'm just waiting for my friend to arrive," Carol informed the waitress.

"No problem. I'll be on the lookout for him," the waitress said sweetly before walking off to attend to another customer.

Carol took out her cell phone and dialed Casey's number. It rang and rang without an answer. She was starting to worry. She knew she was being silly. He was only five minutes late. So, she waited it out a little while longer.

When it got to be fifteen minutes late, she called up the number to the construction company he worked at. He was currently working with a crew on the new Target building, and there was a trailer that his boss would hang out in on the property so that he could overlook the job being done.

"Hello. Carbon Grove Construction," Casey's boss answered.

"Hello. I'm a friend of Casey Michelson's. Can you tell me if he left on his lunchbreak yet? I'm waiting here for him and he hasn't showed up. I'm getting kind of worried. He's not answering his cell phone." Carol bit her bottom lip.

"Mr. Michaelson wasn't at work today. He got attacked last night. He's back at his place resting, I assume. I know he's not in the hospital because when he called me to tell me he wouldn't be in to work, he said it wasn't so serious that he had to be in overnight," his boss revealed.

Carol felt all the color drain from her face. "All right. Thank you." She hung up the phone then grabbed her purse and left the café as fast as her legs would take her.

She then jumped into her car and dashed off to Casey's place.

 _ **~*came back to me*~**_

Hope headed over to Aiden's office with his favorite lunch. She also brought him a huge piece of chocolate cake with chocolate frosting that was all his. She had been tempted to eat some of it along the way, but this was to make up for last night, so she refrained.

When she arrived, she was pleasantly surprised to see that Tiffany wasn't there.

"Hello, Baby!" Aiden kissed her passionately on the lips. He grinned. "You brought me lunch?"

Hope smiled and nodded. "I know you said you were going to be stuck at the office all day, so I wanted to make sure you got to eat. I got you the bacon potato soup you love from the café, a meatball sub on the Italian herbs and cheese bread from Subway; toasted and with grated cheese only; and finally a giant slice of chocolate frosted chocolate cake from the bakery along with your favorite coffee from there and a bottled water since coffee never fully quenches your thirst."

"Three different places and all my favorite foods! What did I do to deserve this?" he asked with a huge smile, revealing his dimples that Hope loved so much.

Hope blushed. "I still feel badly about last night. This is kind of another way of me saying I'm sorry."

Aiden gently stroked her hair and kissed the top of her head. "Don't even worry about it. It just wasn't meant to be. Are you going to eat too?" he asked, taking a seat at his desk, and motioning with his head for her to sit down in front of him.

"No, I have a lunch get-together with Jen and Adrienne. I just wanted to make sure you got to eat too." Hope looked around, then back at Aiden. "So, where's Tiffany? Did she say why she didn't show last night?"

Aiden suddenly turned serious. "She didn't show up today and she didn't even call. I'm worried, Hope. This isn't like her at all!"

Hope suddenly felt sick to her stomach. "Did you call the police?"

Aiden shook his head. "She hasn't been missing twenty-four hours yet, so I didn't bother. I called her cell phone and got no answer. I called her home phone too and got no answer. I'm worried about her! What if someone hurt her or kidnapped her or… I don't know. My mind races with all the possibilities."

Hope felt like she was going to throw up. _What had Andre done?_ "You could still ask the police to stop by her house and do a wellness check. In fact, I know I'm on maternity leave, but I could go check."

Aiden shook his head. "You have your lunch get-together. I'm just going to finish eating then go check myself."

"Aiden, what if someone is there? It could be dangerous. Let the police handle it," Hope said. She felt sick with worry. She knew this was all her fault. She should have known she couldn't trust a Dimera!

Aiden nodded. "All right. I'll call Shawn. But please, promise me you'll go to your lunch date now? I don't want you in any danger either."

Hope was hesitant, but for both the sake of the twins' and for respecting Aiden's wishes, she nodded her agreement.

She sat with him a little while longer, then it was time for her to go if she wanted to be on time for her lunch get-together. She kissed him sweetly on the lips. "Please keep me posted."

"I will. Try not to worry too much about it. Enjoy your lunch!" Aiden said.

Hope then left for her lunch date, feeling guiltier by the moment.

 _ **~*came back to me*~**_

Carol arrived at Casey's apartment and knocked on his door. When he wouldn't answer, she knocked again.

She then rang his doorbell, full on panic rising.

Finally, the door opened.

She gasped when she saw Casey. Both eyes were blackened. One eye was swollen shut and his bottom lip was puffy and cut. He also had a puffy, purplish right cheek, and his left one had what looked like a long scratch down it.

"What happened?" she asked in a frantic voice. She walked into his apartment and shut the door behind them. She locked it as well, suddenly not feeling safe.

"I was attacked when taking out the garbage. Two thugs wearing ski masks came out of nowhere. One warned me to stay away from you or my mother and I would regret it. Then, the other one knocked me out with a two-by-four. I was blacked out for most of it, but I remember coming to, in and out as I was kicked and punched. Someone wanted a message sent to me," Casey explained. "I woke up when my landlord found me and called the police."

"You should be at a hospital!" Carol exclaimed.

"I was last night. They wanted to keep me overnight for observation, but I hate hospitals, so I refused. They gave me a thorough checkup though. X-Rays, cat scans—the works! I was there most of the night anyway. I just wasn't admitted," Casey explained. "Thankfully the only damage was to my head and face. The kidney area was untouched. I had a slight concussion, but I'm going to be all right after a few days of rest. Even so, I hate taking off work."

"Did you tell the police what happened?" Carol asked.

"I told them the part about two men and ski masks, but I left out the warning. I'm sorry, but I'm not risking Andre sending someone after my mother," Casey explained.

Carol took in what Casey had just said. "Andre?"

Casey shrugged. "Who else would it be, Carol? Your brother? He would never send someone out to get me. Besides, he has no problem with us being friends. Andre is the one who offered me a million dollars to stay away from you. When I wouldn't, he got mad, and this is his retaliation. It has to be! It aint right, but there's nothing I can do. I know better than to mess with a Dimera. I may be new to this town, but even I know that."

"He offered you a million dollars to stay away from me?" Carol felt her blood start to boil, and her fists clenched at their sides. "I'll kill him!"

Casey put a hand over top of her shoulder. "Don't. I don't want him doing something like this to you. I wouldn't take the money anyway."

"But look what he did to you! I'm sorry, Casey but I can't let him get away with this!" She tried to run off to give Andre a piece of her mind, but Casey quickly grabbed her arm.

"Please, Carol. Don't. I don't want you getting hurt."

Carol relaxed a little. "He's not going to hurt me, Casey. I know he won't." Her eyes narrowed. " _I_ , however, can't promise that I won't hurt _him_."

"Maybe it is best we stay away from each other. I don't want my mama getting hurt. I could never live with myself if she did," Casey replied.

Carol shook her head. "Casey, no. We're not going to let Andre win. I promise you, he won't hurt your mother. I won't let him. I'm also not going to let him bully you _or_ me into not being friends. In fact, I'm going to stay here and take care of you while he's at work. Have you eaten yet?"

Casey shook his head. "I'm too sore to make myself dinner."

"We can order a pizza in and watch a movie. I need to take my mind off things before I kill somebody," Carol grumbled.

"All right. I guess it would cheer me up a little having you here," Casey agreed.

Carol looked at him and sighed. She felt her heart melting. "First let me get you an ice pack. We need to get that swelling down. Did the doc prescribe you any pain meds?"

Casey nodded. "Yes, Ma'am." He nodded toward the kitchen. "Right over there on the counter."

Carol then headed to his kitchen like she owned the place. She would take care of Casey for a few hours, then, once Andre got out of work…

She narrowed her eyes, a scowl on her face. She would take care of Andre.

 _ **~*came back to me*~**_

Hope snatched her phone on the first ring. She looked at the caller ID and saw that it was Aiden. "I have to take this. I'll be right back," Hope said to Jen and Adrienne as she got up and walked a few feet away with her phone. She answered it. "Aiden, did you call Shawn?"

"Hope, it's bad. It's real bad," Aiden said, his tone filled with worry.

Hope felt as if she were going to throw up. "What's wrong?"

"Shawn checked on her house and someone had broken into it. Things are strewn all about, and they found blood on her bedroom walls!" Aiden said.

"Oh my gosh! Aiden… This is all my fault!" Hope felt as if she could cry at any moment.

"How could it possibly be your fault, Hope? I mean, all you did was dislike her. It's not like you went over to Andre's and asked him to make sure she didn't show up to the lawyer's banquet," Aiden said.

Hope's mouth dropped open. "I—" She was at a loss for words.

"Carol just happened to be there when you were making that little deal with Andre last night, and she overheard. She called me and told me about it, being the loyal sister that she is. So, I called Tiffany and told her to get out of the house. She went to visit her mother for a few days just to be safe. I gave her a few paid days off. I just made up the blood in the house to teach you a lesson. Seriously, Hope. Andre Dimera? How could you? And you thought _I_ was bad for working with him before!" Aiden didn't sound mad, but he did sound annoyed. "No, thanks to you, I have to go a few days without a secretary!"

"Hope was embarrassed, ashamed, and livid all in one. However, she knew that the only way to get out of this one was by calling a truce. "I just thought he'd slip her some ipecac and make her too sick to come. It was wrong and stupid of me, not to mention immature, and I know it. I'm sorry! This pregnancy is getting my hormones all out of sorts and it's making me crazy. But you shouldn't have been so mean as to worry me like that! It's not good for me to be stressed when I'm pregnant!"

"That's why I didn't let it go on longer," Aiden quipped.

"How about you forgive me for acting like a crazy lunatic, and I'll forgive you for going overboard in teaching me a lesson? Hope suggested.

"All right, deal. But only if you promise not to pull a stunt like that again," Aiden said.

Hope nodded. "Done! Trust me, if I never saw Andre Dimera again, it'd be a dream come true."

"See you when I get home, Baby." Aiden had am amused tone to his voice.

Hope smirked. "See you when you get home. I love you."

"I love you too. More than you know." Aiden then hung up.

Hope hung up too, then headed back to have lunch with her friends.


	47. S2E22

_**This Love…**_

 _ **Season 2 Episode 22: Oops!... I Did It Again**_

Aiden was excited. He had just had the perfect idea to surprise Hope and make her happy. There was a room in the back of the law firm that was big, but currently not being used, and certainly not needed. He only needed one conference room, and there was more than enough room for all his associates to have their own office. So, he decided to put it to good use. He had the idea to turn it into a nursery for the twins. That way, if Hope ever needed a babysitter once she went back to work, she could bring the twins to him in an emergency. Heck, he could even hire an in office nanny if needed. That way, the twins would be close in case they needed him. It would also be good for nights when he and Hope wanted to stay in their rooftop place, he knew.

"What are you smiling about?" Tiffany asked as she came in to work. It had been days since the Andre scare, so now she was back to work.

Aiden grinned. "I want to turn the back room into a nursery for my twins. That way, when Hope goes back to work, they will have a place to stay in case of emergency. I can hire a nanny to take care of them when I'm in meetings. I know we could just get a nanny to care for them at home, but I like keeping them nearby. Hope already expressed to me that she doesn't like the idea of us both leaving them alone with a nanny even though we have no choice. We both love our jobs and don't want to quit. This way, we can have the best of both worlds."

Tiffany smirked. "And keeping them at the police station is definitely out of the question!"

Aiden nodded. "You got that right! The only problem is, I'm not good at the whole designing thing. I suppose I could ask Carol, but she already did so much for me in getting this place all set up. I kind of hate to ask her to do more. I suppose I could pay her, then I'd feel less guilty."

Tiffany's eyes lit up. "Can I help? I _love_ to decorate!"

Aiden thought about it. "You wouldn't mind? I could pay you."

Tiffany grinned practically from ear to ear. "Are you kidding me? I'll do it for free! Heck, you're in luck. My best friend just so happens to be the manager of the Babies R Us on Rigby Street. I'm sure she could get us a discount on anything you need there."

"That would be amazing!" Aiden said. "I'll need two cribs and a changing table. They can share one. Maybe a couple mobiles too."

"You should get them a rocker too. Oh and some rugs and a couple diaper genies. They will come in handy for all those dirty diapers. Heck, I'm sure she'd even hook you up with some diapers and wipes!" Tiffany took out a list pad and started writing everything down with her Jennings and Associates pen. She then looked at Aiden. "What do you want to do about the walls? How about a pale yellow to make it gender neutral? Or we could wallpaper it."

Aiden nodded. "Yellow sounds nice. That way it's not too boyish or too girlish. I don't want them to think I favor one over the other. Not that they'd be old enough to think that way, but still…"

"We can do a border too. Maybe a teddy bear boarder?" Tiffany suggested. "We can check out the paint store in the town square. They have a variety of cute borders."

"I love that idea! Maybe we can even find teddy bear mobiles to match!" Aiden said, getting into it now. His eyes lit up. "And of course we'll need a baby monitor so I can hear them when they wake from their naps."

"When should we go look for these things?" Tiffany asked.

"Well, I have meetings until five. How about we go right after work and spend and an hour or so picking up some things?" Aiden suggested.

Tiffany nodded. "Sounds good! I'm free."

"I'm really excited for this," Aiden said with a grin. "I know it sounds silly since the twins won't be born for another three months, but I'm eager to get started on it now!"

Tiffany shrugged. "Nothing wrong with that! After all, you need to be prepared."

Aiden grinned again. "I'm so excited! I can hardly wait to show Hope when it's all over. She's going to be thrilled!" he said as he headed into his office.

He sat down at his desk, and as he waited for his next appointment, he spent the time daydreaming of the finished nursery, and Hope's happy expression.

 _ **~*came back to me*~**_

Carol sat in the Dimera garden at the patio table. She was trying to read a book, but found herself reading the same page ten times. She _still_ didn't know what she had just read.

With a sigh, she gave up and set the book back down. She then rested her chin on her open palm, and thought back to days ago when she had confronted Andre about what he had done to Casey.

 _She came barreling into the Dimera mansion, not even bothering to greet Harold back._

" _My dear Carol! How are you today?" Andre asked, not picking up on her sour look._

" _Don't you 'My dear Carol' me!" Carol snapped._

" _What's the matter now?" Andre asked with an eye roll and a sigh._

 _Carol was ready to kill him. "What's the matter? You have my friend beat up by two thugs just because he wouldn't take the million dollars you offered him to no longer see me, and you have the nerve to ask what's the matter?!" Carol clenched her fists at her sides. It was taking everything in her power not to pummel him._

 _Andre put on an innocent front. "I don't have any idea what you're talking about! Poor Casey was beat up? Is he okay?"_

 _Carol rolled her eyes. "Save it, Andre! You're not fooling anybody. Casey told me what you did."_

 _Andre's eyes suddenly turned cold. "All right, fine! So I paid him a million dollars to stay away from you. So what? I know how it is between a man and a woman, Carol. You may start off as friends with no intention of it becoming anything more than that, but sometimes you just can't help matters. Feelings start to develop whether you like them to or not."_

" _You should have just trusted in my love for you," Carol said, her anger going down just a half centimeter. "And anyways, having Casey beat up? Are you insane?!"_

 _Andre looked away. "You can't prove I was involved in that. Salem can be a dangerous place sometimes. There are criminals lurking around every corner." He looked Carol in the eyes. "Maybe he should move to some place safer."_

" _Andre Dimera, you listen to me! I will go to the police right now and I will tell them exactly what you did if you don't tell me the truth right this instant!" Carol snapped._

 _Andre shrugged. "You have no proof. There's no use, really."_

 _Carol decided to get him in the heart—in the legal way of course. "How do you think little Thomas would feel to know his uncle hires thugs to beat people up that don't do his bidding? Kids live by example, you know. Do you really want that sweet little boy growing up like you?"_

 _The smug look disappeared off Andre's face. "I was desperate, all right? I didn't want to lose you! You're the best thing that's ever happened to me, and I didn't anything or anyone to jeopardize that." He looked away in shame._

 _Carol felt her anger dissipate just a bit more. She sighed. "Well you should have just talked to me instead of going all gangster on Casey!"_

" _I don't know how, all right?" Andre snapped._

 _Carol rolled her eyes. "What do you mean you don't know how? You don't know how to talk to me? You're doing it right now. Don't be ridiculous!"_

 _"I mean, I'm not good with expressing my feelings. Lashing out is all I've ever known for most of my life. I never really had that many good influences in my life. It's just the way I grew up!" Andre confessed. "I've also never loved anyone as much as I loved you. It's never really meant something until I met you." He looked away._

 _Carol's anger was officially gone completely. "Really?"_

 _Andre looked at her and nodded. He then walked over to her and placed a hand on each cheek as he looked into her eyes. "You make me happy, Carol—happier than I've ever been before. You and Thomas both make me want to become a better man, as cheesy as that may sound."_

 _Carol narrowed her eyes at him. "Threatening Casey's mother and having him beat up sure doesn't sound like you want to be a better man!"_

 _"I'm not perfect, Carol. It's hard for me to change. But I'm trying. It's just that the thought of losing you sent me back a bit. But I never intended on actually hurting Casey's mother, nor did I intend to have Casey seriously hurt," Andre confessed. "Both were just a scare tactic."_

 _Carol crossed her arms over her chest. "His face was pretty beat up. He can barely see out of his one eye, it's swollen so badly."_

 _"But his vital organs are all okay," Andre said with a shrug. "It will never happen again. I promise you."_

 _Carol raised an eyebrow. "Until the next time you think Casey and I are getting too close, right?"_

 _Andre shook his head, and held his hands up in defense. "I will stay away from Casey and his mother. Call what happened temporary insanity. Just please don't leave me, Carol! I simply couldn't bear it!" Andre took her hands in his own and kissed them._

 _"I'm not going to stop being friends with Casey. You know that, right?" Carol asked._

 _Andre nodded. "Fine. It was wrong of me to ask you to not see him any longer. Just please, don't give up on us! Look. I'll beg." He plopped down onto his knees and clasped his hands together. "Andre Dimera doesn't beg anyone for anything. But for you, my Darling Carol, I am begging you to please give me a second chance."_

 _Carol looked at him. He looked so pitiful. He really did seem sorry. She sighed. "All right, fine. I'll give you a second chance."_

 _Andre got up and kissed her passionately on the lips. "Thank you, my Sweet Carol! I promise you, I will not let you down."_

 _Carol nodded. "You better not!" She narrowed her eyes at him. I don't give third chances."_

Breaking from her flashback, Carol sighed. She hoped she wasn't making a mistake taking Andre back. But a man had never said such sweet things to her before. Sure she had been married before, but none of her husbands had ever expressed such a desire for her—not even when proposing! Heck, not even in their wedding vows. Plus, it somehow meant more coming from someone like Andre Dimera, who apparently never seemed to show love for anyone, and who certainly wasn't usually one to show his emotions.

She sighed again. She'd give him another chance. The hopeless romantic in her didn't leave her any choice. But if he messed up _one_ more time, things were over between them for good. After all, she had meant what she had told Andre—she didn't give third chances.

 _ **~*came back to me*~**_

Over the next few days, Aiden stayed after work so that he and Tiffany could get right to setting up the nursery. Aiden was eager to get it done because he wasn't sure how long he could keep it a secret from Hope. Also, he was so excited to show her what he had done! He knew she would be ecstatic!

So far they had bought two cribs, two teddy bear mobiles, a rocker, a Diaper Genie, and a changing table complete with baby powder, wipes, diapers, and even Desitin just in case either of the babies were to ever get a rash. Tiffany had been right, and her friend was able to give them a decent discount.

"I guess we should have painted the room before buying the furniture, huh?" Aiden asked.

"It's fine. I know how excited you were to buy the furniture. I kind of was too, and they aren't even my babies!" She grinned. "But now we really must get the primer and the yellow paint."

"And the borders for the tops of the walls," Aiden reminded her.

Tiffany nodded. "Yes! And the borders."

"I was thinking of getting this room carpeted and soundproofed. That way the twins won't interrupt any important meetings with clients. They can have a nanny with them when I'm in meetings, and when I'm not, I can make sure to have the baby monitor in my office so that I can hear them if they need me. The soundproofing will be so that no one else has to hear them. I'm sure my other associates wouldn't be too thrilled to have their meetings interrupted with twin cries." Aiden pointed to himself. "I know I'd be annoyed if it were someone else's babies."

"Excellent plan! We need to paint first though." Tiffany raised an eyebrow after looking at her watch. She looked at Aiden. "We haven't even eaten yet. While we're still on our lunch break, wanna grab a quick bite at the café for lunch, and while we're at the square, pick up the paints and borders before your next appointment?"

Aiden nodded. "We have forty-five minutes," he said as he looked at the clock. "We better go now if we wanna make it."

So off they went, both eager to get the paints so that the nursery could be finished sooner rather than later.

 _ **~*came back to me*~**_

Hope was just finishing up her sandwich, chips, and pink lemonade when she spotted Aiden and Tiffany, walking into the café laughing together and looking quite happy. They both had bags resting on their arms and paint can handles in their hands. The bags were also from the paint store. They headed up to the counter for counter service.

Hope finished her last bite of sandwich, and eyed them suspiciously. Were they seriously shopping when they were supposed to be working?

Aiden seemed to sense someone watching him, and turned around. He blushed when he saw her, and quickly ran over to her. "Hey, Baby!" He kissed her cheek. "Are you here with anybody?"

Hope didn't smile or greet him. "It's just me and the twins, getting some lunch. What are you and Tiffany doing here?" She nodded toward his bag and raised an eyebrow. "Painting during work?" She drank down the rest of her lemonade as she waited for his response.

"I uh… I'm repainting the break room. I figured it could use a little sprucing up! Tiffany knows what looks nice better than I do, so she came along to help me pick a color out. We're going with a pale yellow. I figured it would make the place more cheery. We're getting some lunch to take back, then we'll be getting to work painting after my meetings are over. I'll be home just a little bit later than usual," Aiden explained.

"Tiffany seems to know how to do a lot of things," Hope said part sarcastically. "She can talk to clients, and now she can decipher what looks good. Is there anything she can't do?" Hope's tone was dripping with fake sweetness, and she had a fake sweet smile plastered on her face to match.

"Hope…" Aiden began.

Before Aiden could finish his sentence, Tiffany came over. "I ordered and paid for our lunch. It will be out in a few, then we can go." She grinned at Hope. "Hi, Hope! Aiden and I were just out getting paint to repaint the bathroom next to the conference room. That puke green color is not attractive—in a bathroom especially! We stopped by here to get a quick lunch to bring back. How are you?"

Hope ignored her question. "It's Chartreuse, and I think it's pretty." She raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms. "But Aiden said you're re-painting the break room." She looked rom Tiffany to Aiden, to back to Tiffany. "Which is it?"

Tiffany blushed. "It is the break room, but we bought so much paint, so Aiden said that if there was any leftover, we can paint the bathroom with it too, which is what I was most excited about. But if you like the green, we can keep it. It's not my taste, but it's not about what I like."

Hope put on a fake smile again. "You're right. It's not. It's about what _Aiden_ likes, and since I'm his girlfriend, I have a bit of a say in it as well. The Chartreuse stays." She knew she was being petty. After all, it really _wasn't_ that pretty of a green. Tiffany was right. But there wasn't a chance in heck that Hope was ever going to admit that! Besides, something just didn't set right with her about their excuse. Though, she didn't know why they would lie about paint…

Tiffany didn't know how to respond to that. "Chartreuse it stays then," she said simply.

Their order was called then, and Tiffany quickly went up to get it.

"You could have been a littler nicer," Aiden gently began.

"Don't start with me about her, Aiden," Hope warned firmly.

Aiden sighed. He then kissed Hope. "I'll be home for dinner. I love you," he murmured.

Hope stroked his hair. "I love you too." She kissed him back. She wasn't in the mood to argue.

Aiden then left with Tiffany.

Hope eyed them up as they left. There was something going on between them. She could sense it. Well, she was going to get to the bottom of it, and sooner rather than later at that!

 _ **~*came back to me*~**_

"I hate lying to her, but it's for a good reason. She'll find out the truth when it's time," Aiden said as they arrived back at the office. He set their food down in the break room. "How much do I owe you? Heck, you're nice enough to help me with the nursery, let me pay for yours too."

"It came to twelve dollars and some change, but don't worry about it. I can afford to treat you once in a while you know," Tiffany said with a wink.

"I'll get yours next time then. Thank you. Here, let me help you with one of those…" Aiden grabbed one of the paint cans, as well as the bags carrying the borders, pans, rollers, and brushes.

Tiffany followed behind him with the other paint can, and they deposited the cans and bag on the floor of the nursery-to-be.

"Do you think she was on to us?" Tiffany asked. "She seemed a little snippy."

"I don't think she'd be able to guess what we're really doing. I'm sure she has no idea. Being pregnant just makes her grumpy. One of the many reasons I can't wait for the twins to be born. Though even then she'll probably be grumpy since she'll be tired all the time, taking care of the twins. What have I gotten myself into?" Aiden joked.

Tiffany laughed. "Don't worry. I'm sure you're going to love being a father."

Aiden would have told her about having been a father before with Chase, but he didn't want to get into it. So, instead, he just smiled and thanked her.

"So, when should we get started on the painting?" Tiffany asked.

"I already promised Hope I'd be home for dinner, but maybe you could get started with the primer? I can let you off work at four instead of five and you can use that last hour to prime it. That way, it will give it time to dry. I'd help, but I have meetings until five. I can come back I have dinner with Hope and spend some time with her—say around nine, nine-thirty. The primer should be dry by then, and I can paint the first coat of yellow," Aiden suggested.

"Sounds good!" Tiffany agreed. "I can come in an hour earlier tomorrow and we can get the final coat on. Two coats should be more than fine. Then we can get the border up before leaving work!"

"I'm going to call about getting the carpet put in and sound-proofing the room. I'll see if they can put a rush on it. Then we can start moving the furniture in, and then finally I can surprise Hope!" Aiden was getting even more excited the more they talked about it.

"Sounds like a plan!" Tiffany agreed. "I'm sure she'll love it."

"I sure hope so!" Aiden said, smiling at the thought of Hope's smiling face.

 _ **~*came back to me*~**_

"Wanna go lie in bed with part two of the movie, and then not watch the movie?" Hope murmured in Aiden's ear as they sat on the couch. They had enjoyed a nice dinner at Chez Rouge, and then came home and watched a DVD while cuddled up on the couch. She ran her hand up his chest. "If you catch my drift." She began slowly kissing up the side of his neck.

"Mm… As tempting as that is, I have to get back to work." Aiden gently took her face between his and kissed her lips. "But I'll only be an hour or two. I'm still up for anything you want to do when I get back," he offered.

Hope pulled away from him with her trademark eyebrow raise. "Why do you have to go back to work? It's nine o'clock at night!"

Aiden nodded. "I know, but I really need to get some paperwork done for court tomorrow. I was going to bring it with me, but I must have forgotten to put the paperwork in my briefcase. It was a hectic day. I thought it was in there, but it wasn't."

Hope sighed. "All right. But I need my sleep. If you're any later than two hours, I can't guarantee I'll still be awake enough to do anything."

He gently stroked her hair and kissed her cheek. "I'll be back as quickly as I can." He then got up and headed for the office, eager to get the first coat of yellow paint on.

 _ **~*came back to me*~**_

When Aiden arrived back at the office, he was surprised to see Tiffany's car still there. He headed into the building, and over to the nursery. "Hey, you're still here."

Tiffany nodded. "I got the primer done faster than I thought. I went out to get some dinner quick, then came back and decided to help you paint. That way you can get home to Hope quicker. I'm sure she wasn't happy you had to go back out."

Aiden smirked. "You're beginning to get to know her quite well. Thank you for this. I should give you employee of the month! We don't have employee of the month, so would you settle for a raise?"

"You know you don't have to pay me to help you. I'm happy to help," Tiffany said.

"Well, I greatly appreciate it. Thank you," Aiden replied as he rolled up his sleeves and opened the first can of paint

"You're very welcome!" Tiffany said. She got out a fresh paint pans and rollers.

Aiden divided the can into two pans, then, after Tiffany handed him a roller of his own, they both took a wall and began to paint.

Aiden turned the radio on. It was eighties night on the local pop station.

"Oh my gosh, my favorite decade!" Tiffany said, immediately singing along with the radio to Cyndi Lauper's "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun".

Aiden laughed as he watched her bopping around as she painted, and couldn't help but bop along himself as he painted his wall. He was more of a seventies person himself, but there were a lot of eighties that he really enjoyed too.

Song after song played, and before he knew it, his first wall was done. Tiffany was already onto her second wall.

"Wow, you work fast!" he said

"I love painting. It's relaxing. Besides, this music puts me in a good mood!" Tiffany said. She then began belting along with Starship to "We Built This City".

This was actually a song Aiden loved as well, and he sang along with her, pretending he was a rock star and using his roller as a microphone. It made Tiffany giggle.

For the next half hour, they had fun singing and dancing along to the music as they continued to paint. Aiden was almost done with his second wall. He just had the top to paint. Before, Aiden had painted the top of his wall while Tiffany had painted the bottom of her wall. They had just shared a stepladder since they painted the tops of their walls at different times. But now, Tiffany was still painting the top of her second wall, and he needed to paint the top of his.

He headed over to the second stepladder that was right outside the door, brought it in, and set it up.

Tiffany was so lost in both her painting and her singing along to Tears for Fears' "Everybody Wants to Rule the World", that she didn't notice.

She only noticed once he had started to climb up.

"Aiden, don't! That top step is—" Before she could get her words out, the top step broke, and Aiden came crashing down into his pan of yellow paint.

Tiffany winced. "Loose." She ran over to Aiden and extended her hand. "Are you all right?"

Aiden was lying on his side. "I'm feeling a little bruised, but I'm all right." He let Tiffany help him up. "Thanks." He looked at his sleeve. "Great! The paint just _had_ to hit above the rolled up part. This was one of my favorite shirts too!" "Luckily I have a clean shirt upstairs."

"I'm _so_ sorry! I should have taken that stepladder out of the way completely. I went to use it when you weren't here, and realized the top step was loose, so I got my stepladder from home while I was out. I just set that one outside the door, thinking I'd deal with it later. I kind of forgot about it then since we were sharing the good one," Tiffany explained.

"It's all right. No big deal. I'm fine. I just wish I could say the same for my shirt! I'm going to go upstairs and change. I'll be back," Aiden said, a little embarrassed.

Tiffany nodded. "Okay."

Aiden then left the room and headed up to the rooftop room to change.

Tiffany giggled once he was out of earshot, then went back to painting the rest of her wall.

 _ **~*came back to me*~**_

Hope was hungry again, but there were no good snacks in the house that appealed to her. She decided to call Aiden and see if he could pick her something up on the way home.

She dialed his number, and was surprised when Tiffany answered.

"Hello?" Tiffany asked."

"Tiffany?" Hope asked in surprise. There was a love song playing in the background. It sounded to her like "Heaven" by Bryan Adams.

"Hold on a sec…." Tiffany said. There was a pause, and the music got quieter. Then Tiffany came back. "Hello? Hope?"

"Tiffany, what are you doing answering Aiden's phone? Heck, what are you even doing at work?" Hope asked, feeling her stomach start to churn.

"I came in to uh…help Aiden with something," Tiffany said, non-convincingly.

"Help him with _what_?" Hope asked; getting angry. "You know what? Just let me talk to Aiden please. Now."

"He's busy right now," Tiffany said.

"I don't care. Where is he? I want to talk to my boyfriend," Hope snapped.

"He's upstairs," Tiffany said.

"In the bedroom?" Hope asked.

"Yes, but—"

Hope hung up on her then left, not even bothering to grab her purse.

She drove to Aiden's office angry, her mind racing with ideas of what could be going on. She started thinking of Aiden taking Tiffany upstairs to the bedroom and… She couldn't even think about it. It made her sick.

When she got there, she stormed into the law firm, calling Aiden's name out. "Aiden? Where are you?"

She was about to head up to the rooftop bedroom, when Tiffany appeared.

"Hope, calm down. You didn't let me explain," Tiffany said calmly.

Hope narrowed her eyes at her and crossed her arms. "Please. Explain then." The anger flashed in her eyes. "But let me remind you, I am a cop, and I'll be able to see right through your lies."

Before Tiffany could respond to that, Aiden came down the stairs from the rooftop bedroom, shirtless, and with wet hair.

Hope was so angry and hurt, she could hardly stand. Her whole body began to shake and she clenched her fists at her side. "What in the heck I going on here?"

Aiden' eyes got wide. "Hope! Oh my gosh, this looks bad, doesn't it?"

"You think?" Hope asked angrily. She whipped around to face Tiffany. "You filthy slut! You just couldn't resist, could you? You just _had_ to keep going after my boyfriend until you finally snagged him."

Tiffany laughed. "Trust me, Hope you got this so wrong— _again_!" She held up her hands in defense.

Hope narrowed her eyes at her. "Do I? You're here alone with my husband after he was supposed to be here alone—meaning without you. Then, I call him only for you to answer the phone—with a love song playing in the background mind you—and you tell me he is upstairs in the bedroom. Now I get here and he is wet and shirtless. I'm not an idiot. I can see what is going on here. You cheap whore!"

"Hope, that's enough!" Aiden snapped.

Hope narrowed her eyes at him. "Don't you even speak to me!" She stomped over to the break room. "Surprise, surprise, it's not painted yellow!" She walked over to the chartreuse bathroom. "Yep! Still chartreuse!" She whipped around and shot both Aiden and Tiffany looks to kill. "You liars!"

"That's it!" Aiden took Hope's arm and started leading her to the would-be nursery.

"Get your hands off of me. What are you—what is this room?" Hope asked when she saw the room, which was now finished with the first coat of yellow paint.

"It's the nursery Tiffany has been helping me with as a surprise for you. We were painting it tonight. I fell off the stepladder." Aiden walked in and showed her the broken step for proof. "I fell into the paint pan, and had to go up and change shirts since I got paint on it. When I got up there, I realized I had paint in my hair too, so I ended up showering too," Aiden explained. He pointed upward. "I have the shirt right upstairs if you don't believe me. I didn't have a clean shirt upstairs like I thought, so I came down here figuring maybe it was in my office instead."

"The music is because we were listening to music while painting. While he was up there was when you called. I finished painting the room while he was showering," Tiffany explained. "You don't believe us, go look in the room next door. We're using it to store all the baby furniture until all the painting is done." She nodded to the left.

Hope felt sick. She left the room and looked to the room left of the now yellow room. Sure enough, there were cribs, a rocker, changing tables, mobiles, diapers, diaper cream, and wipes. There was even a Diaper Genie. Her cheeks flushed red.

"Tiffany's friend is the manager at Babies R Us, and was able to get us a really good deal. That's why I've been sneaking around. I wanted to have it all done in a few days to surprise you. I even plan on getting it sound proofed and carpeted. I bought us a good quality baby monitor too. It's underneath the changing table," Aiden explained. "This way, the twins can still be around me, and not just with a nanny during the days."

Hope looked under the changing table, and sure enough, there the monitor was.

She slowly turned around to face Aiden and Tiffany, her cheeks flushed red. "Oops!" she said gently with a wince, shame and embarrassment filling her from head to toe.

Aiden and Tiffany both looked unamused.


	48. S2E23

_**This Love…**_

 _ **S2E23: Bleeding Love**_

"I'm a jealous, hormonal idiot and I am _so_ sorry for making a jackass idiot out of myself," Hope stated. She looked at Aiden. "Can you ever forgive me?"

Aiden nodded. "I understand how things looked. But, you should know I'd never cheat on you Hope. How could you ever think I would?"

Hope looked to the ground in shame, feeling like a little kid who had just learned a valuable lesson. "I should have known better. I'm sorry. I'm just not myself lately."

"Well, I forgive you of course. But I'm not the one you called a whore," Aiden reminded her.

Hope slowly looked up at Tiffany. "Tiffany, I am _so_ sorry for calling you a slut and a whore, or whatever it is that I called you. I had absolutely no right. I thought I had the right, but I've clearly just been proven wrong. You were just trying to do something nice for me and I twisted it into something ugly. I'm a horrible person." Hope covered her face with her hands. "I'm so ashamed." She then looked at Tiffany. "Can _you_ ever forgive me?"

Tiffany held out her arms. "Of course! You know, I really don't blame you. If I were in your situation, I'd more than likely come to the same conclusion."

Hope awkwardly hugged her. She figured a hug was the least she owed Tiffany at this point.

Tiffany then broke the hug and shot Aiden a look. "Next time, would it kill you to keep your old shirt on until you find the new one?" she teased.

It was Aiden's turn to blush. "I was hoping I'd get to my office while you were still in the other room. I didn't think you'd see me."

"Another thing that's my fault, I guess," Hope said with a sigh. "She only came out when she heard me arrive. She knew she had to explain before I thought the worst, which obviously it was too late for." She looked at Tiffany. "I really am sorry. I feel like such a jerk!"

"It's fine, really. Don't even think twice about it," Tiffany said.

"And you know what?" Hope asked.

"What?" Tiffany asked hesitantly, as if she wasn't sure if Hope was going to say something mean to her or nice to her.

Hope nodded toward the bathroom. "You go ahead and paint that bathroom if you'd like. You're right; it is a horrible color for a bathroom—at least that shade."

Tiffany grinned big. "I know, right? I was thinking maybe a cobalt blue?"

"That would be beautiful!" Hope agreed. She then turned to Aiden and embraced him. "I love that you want to make a nursery for our babies."

Aiden smiled. "I figured we can have a nanny watch them here. That way I will be nearby if I'm needed, and they won't be alone with just the nanny all day. And of course for when we want to spend the night here, but we have no sitter for the twins…"

"It's a perfect idea!" Hope said. "Thank you for this. I can hardly wait to see the finished project!" She then looked at Tiffany, then back to Aiden. "I'm just sorry I ruined the surprise."

"It's all right. Maybe you can help too so that they can have their mother's touch on their nursery," Aiden suggested.

Hope nodded. "Yes!"

"Well, thank you Tiffany, for painting the rest of my wall. You can go home and relax now. You've earned it! As for me, I'm going to check my office for that shirt, then…" He pulled Hope close. "We can go home and do what we talked about doing earlier before I left…" he murmured in her ear.

Hope pushed some hair behind her ear and smiled. "Forget the shirt." She then purred into his ear, "You won't need it anyway."

Tiffany smiled at the happy couple. "See you tomorrow," she said in a song-song voice as she grabbed her purse. "Have fun. I'm sure you will." She winked at them.

Hope and Aiden both blushed, then wished her goodnight.

"Goodnight," Tiffany said before leaving the building.

Aiden made sure all the lights were off, then took Hope's hand. "Ready to go, Baby?"

Hope nodded. "More than ready to go!"

They kissed, then headed out of the building and locked up. They then headed home to enjoy the rest of their night, just the two of them.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

Aiden and Hope slowly undressed each other while kissing in the dark. Aiden then laid Hope down onto her back on the bed, and their kisses became more passionate.

Aiden's eyes traveled slowly up and down her body, taking her in. "You're so beautiful," he murmured. He gently kissed her swollen stomach. "I can't wait to raise our babies with you."

Hope reached down and stroked his hair. "You're going to be such a good daddy to them."

He kissed up her stomach to her neck.

She threw her head back, her eyes closed as he kissed the side of her neck, gently nipping and licking it. A moan escaped her lips as he began making love to her.

Their lips met and their tongues dueled in a passionate tango.

She wrapped her legs around his waist, and they continued to make love.

"You're so beautiful…" Aiden murmured again. "I love you so much, Hope."

"I love you too. You have no idea how much," Hope said, gently stroking some hair out of his eyes. She kissed him passionately, then moved them so that she was now on top of him. She kissed him as if her life depended on it, wanting nothing more than to feel his love for her. She needed the reassurance that she was the one he loved—the _only_ one he loved.

He moaned, _his_ head going back this time as she moved over him; slightly more forceful than he had been with her.

She leaned down, her hair brushing against his chest. "Do you love me more than you've ever anyone?" she asked.

Aiden looked her in the eyes and gently stroked her hair. "Baby, I love you more than I've ever loved any other woman in my life. No one will ever compare to you."

They kissed passionately, and Aiden moved them so that Hope was beneath him again. He gently pinned her wrists to the bed with his hands, and continued making love to her, upping the notch of forcefulness.

Hope's moans of pleasure got louder, and her legs wrapped around him again, her fingers pressing into his back, and her own back arching. Her head was thrown back, and her eyes were rolled back.

He knew it wouldn't be long for either of them now. He quickened his pace. Hope only lasted a moment more, and he was right behind her.

They laid on their sides, facing each other and in each other's arms, kissing passionately.

"I love you so much." Aiden gently stroked her cheek. "You never have to worry about Tiffany, Baby. You're the only one I love. There could be a million beautiful women in the room and you'd still be the only one I see."

Hope kissed him lovingly on the lips in response. "I love you so much! I was only fooling myself when I was with Rafe. I was just afraid you'd hurt me again. He was safe, and he took care of me. Not to mention Bo asked him to look out for me. I felt that Rafe was who I was supposed to be with. I did love him. After all, he and I had to beautiful babies together. "But the love I felt for him never compared to the love I have for you." She gently stroked his cheek. "I never should have been with him when it was you my heart truly belonged with all along."

Aiden took her hand and kissed it. "But then you never would have had the joy of RJ and Faith in your life."

Hope's eyes filled with tears. "But then I never would have had them to lose either."

"It's better to have known them and lost them than to never have had or known them at all. You'll see them again in Heaven again one day. And for now, you're going to have two more babies that will need all the love you can give them!" He gently rubbed her stomach.

Hope smiled. "God gave me this second chance to be a mother of twins—a chance that I never thought I'd have."

"Our babies are going to be so lucky to have a mother like you!" Aiden said with a smile. He gently stroked her cheek with the back of his hand.

"And they're going to be so lucky to have a daddy like you." She stroked some hair out of his eyes. "This is your second chance too," she whispered.

"I'm so lucky to have you," he murmured, his heart swelling with love for her.

"I'm the lucky one," Hope said.

"We're both lucky then," Aiden replied. He pulled her in for another kiss, then moved over top of her again, causing her to moan in anticipation. He wanted to show her again exactly how much he truly loved her.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

Carol was a little hurt. For the past few days, Casey hadn't wanted to see her. She had brought him chicken soup and a DVD to his apartment. She was bored during the days and figured that he would be too; not being able to work and all. But whenever she would go to his apartment, he politely declined her visit. He'd take her chicken soup and DVD then thank her, but never invite her in. He'd say a polite goodbye, mumble something about being too tired for guests, and then close the door.

They hadn't gotten together at the café since he had gotten beat up. He had said something about not wanting to be seen in public looking like he did. She suspected that it was a lie. After all, Jake needed to be walked, and Casey surely had to have run out of something and had to go to the store. However, Casey always assured her that he was fine, and that he was always well-stocked, so he didn't need to go out to get anything.

Bottom line was, she missed his friendship. It had been a week, and she was beginning to think that Andre had won when it came to keeping them apart.

To take her mind off things, she decided to have lunch with Hope at the Brady Pub.

She arrived before Hope did, and was about to take a table when she saw Casey sitting at the bar all by himself.

She quickly headed over to him. "I thought you didn't want to be seen in public," she quipped.

Casey turned to look at her. His eye was no longer swollen, and there was only a very faint hint of bruising. The black from the other eye was completely gone. His lips had pretty much healed completely. He looked almost back to normal now. "As you can see, I'm healed enough to go back to work. I'm on my lunchbreak now."

"Why didn't you call me? I missed you. I miss our café lunch dates." Carol sat down on the bar stool next to him. "Is it because you're afraid for your mother? Don't worry. I told you when I brought your chicken soup the other day, Andre said it was an empty threat. He's not going to have you hurt ever again. He's also never going to hurt your mother. I can promise you that!"

Casey shook his head, then looked at her. "It's not that." He drank down his root beer.

"Then, what is it?" Carol asked.

"It's the fact that you would go back to Andre Dimera after he did what he did to me. I know you explained that he was just afraid of losing you, but that still doesn't make it right. I thought I was your friend." He shook his head.

"But I _am_ your friend, Casey! I care about you very much! Heck, I have a part of you in me." Carol smirked. "Well that sounded bad, didn't it?"

Casey didn't even crack a smile. "You got what you needed, now you can go."

Carol was hurt. "Casey, don't say that. It's not just about the kidney." She placed a hand over his back. "I do care about you as a friend and a person—not just as my kidney donor."

"Then why are you still with Andre after he did what he did to me?" Casey asked her intently. "You know, most boyfriends treat their girlfriend's friends with respect. Your boyfriend chose to have me beat up. Yet, you're okay with that!"

Carol placed a hand over his arm. "But I'm not! I absolutely hate what he had done to you, and I almost broke up with him because of it!"

"Then why didn't you?" Casey snapped.

"Because he loves me. He really loves me. He explained how he didn't grow up with the best influences in the world. He doesn't know how to act when he thinks he's in danger of losing the one he loves. No other guy has ever cared about me like that. Andre does." Carol found her voice getting shaky. She cleared her throat so as not to cry. She cried for no one. "I know he's a little rough around the edges, but he's learning. I can teach him how to be a good man. He already has the desire to be one."

"You think you can change him? Honey, love isn't like you see on TV and in the movies. You can't just change someone like Andre Dimera. Guys like Andre Dimera are just out there to use you until they are tired with you, then they will ditch you." Casey drank down the last of his root beer. "You have the wrong definition of love," Casey said simply.

"Oh, what do _you_ know about love? Carol snapped. "You're single, and apparently haven't had anyone in a while. All you have is your dumb dog!"

Casey looked at her, anger in his eyes. "Yeah, well at least my 'dumb dog' is a loyal friend." He slammed the money down for his root bear, then grabbed his jacket off the barstool to his right and headed for the door.

Carol was going to call after him and apologize, but she was too mad. Who was anyone to tell her who loved her and who didn't? Casey sure as heck had no right! What did _he_ know anyway?"

"Are you all right?" Hope asked gently, a hand over her shoulder.

Carol turned around on her stool to see Hope. She smiled weakly. "I didn't see you come in."

"I saw you talking to Casey. Things seemed intense, so I just waited for you over there." Hope nodded toward a side booth. "Care to join me?"

Carol nodded. "Of course!" She slid off the bar stool and walked over with Hope to the booth. She sat across from her. "How much of that did you hear?"

"I couldn't hear anything from over here, but it didn't appear to end well," Hope said gently.

Carol sighed, and told her everything that she and Casey had just discussed. "I probably shouldn't have said what I said to him, but he just made me so angry! You can understand why I went back to Andre, right? You can see that he loves me?"

Hope sighed. "I'll admit, I find it hard to believe that Andre Dimera is capable of love. But I do know this. I know he loved his father, and I know he loves his brother. He adores little Thomas. As for you? I honestly can say I've never seen him truly seem to care about a woman the way he cares about you. Though I must say I can't condone him having Casey beat up. I don't know if he can so easily walk away from a lifestyle he is used to."

"So you don't think I can change him either," Carol stated; disappointment in her voice.

Hope raised an eyebrow. "I didn't say that. I know I'm not one to talk about doing things one shouldn't. As you know, I killed his father. Or thought I did anyway. Andre seems to think he is still dead, but Steve and Rafe claim they saw him alive. Anyway, I'm getting off track. Go with your instincts. If you really believe Andre won't do such a thing again, then fine. Give him another chance. Far be it that I judge your choice of lover. I know a lot of people still don't approve of me being with Aiden, but I don't care. My heart wants what it wants and that's that. I don't need anybody else's approval."

Carol nodded. "That is exactly how I feel about Andre! Thank you!"

Hope reached across the table then, and gently rubbed her hand. "Just promise me you'll be careful around him, okay? And if he starts to treat you badly, you let Aiden or I know right away."

Carol nodded. "I can take care of myself, but I will. You two will be the first to know if he screws up again. I promise!"

Hope nodded. "Good!"

A waiter stopped by with menus then, and they ordered their drinks.

"So, how are things with you and my brother?" Carol asked once the waiter had gone to get them their drinks. "By the way, I'm sorry I ratted you out when you made that deal with Andre. But it affected my brother, and I felt the need to be loyal to him after being such a brat to him all these years."

Hope smiled. "It's okay. I understand. It was my own fault for getting jealous. We're doing fine. It's just that this pregnancy and the thing with Ciara is making me so insecure! I don't remember my hormones ever acting up this badly before with my other pregnancies."

Carol smirked. "Maybe you and Andre aren't so different after all. At least not when it comes to your insecurities." She winked.

Hope snorted. "Ha! Maybe not." He looked her in the eyes. "But that's where the similarities end."

Carol nodded. "Of course!"

They looked over their menus, and then ordered their lunch once their drinks came.

Once the waiter left, Hope turned serious again. "He's always working late though. I want him home with me at night. I know he's working to support us and the babies, so I feel bad complaining. Still, sometimes he doesn't even come home until I'm already in bed and asleep for the night."

"What about dinner?" Carol asked.

"I bring him food in sometimes, but most of the time he just makes his own or gets a pizza ordered in. He marks his stuff in the cupboard and fridge in the break room so that his associates know what food is his," Hope told her. "One night, he even ended up sleeping in our rooftop room. I hate not waking up in his arms."

"That's odd. It doesn't sound like Aiden. He's always been a hard worker, but I never pegged him as a workaholic," Carol replied.

Hope shook her head. "He usually isn't! He was never like this before he had his own firm. Back when we first started dating, he used to be counting the hours until five o'clock hit and he could leave. In fact, sometimes he'd even manage to slip out earlier."

"Well, maybe what he needs is a little reminder that he has something much better at home than he has at work! You could bring him dinner, maybe be wearing some sexy lingerie underneath your clothes. Then, after dinner, you can take him up to your rooftop room and give him his dessert if you know what I mean." Carol smirked at her and winked.

Hope smirked too. "You know, I just might do that!"

"You do that….Just don't tell me about it after. I mean, it's my brother we're talking about. Ew!" Carol said.

They both laughed.

"Don't worry. What happens between your brother and me stays between your brother and me," Hope promised.

Carol nodded. "Good!"

Their food came then, and they dug in. Hope was beginning to feel better already.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

Aiden finally finished his paperwork and packed up his briefcase. He was eager to get back home to Hope. He knew she hated when he worked late, and he _hated_ working late. But he had taken on some extra clients so that both Hope and the twins could have anything their hearts desired. Not that they were in that much need of money, but even so, every little bit helped. Unfortunately, with more clients came more work. He planned on cutting back a little once the twins were born. He knew Hope would need him and he wanted to be there for her. But until then, work, work, work, it was.

He was just about to leave when Tiffany came in.

"Tiffany, hi. What brings you in so late?" Aiden asked her in surprise.

"Good! You're still here. I forgot something in my desk that I really need," Tiffany said, running over to her desk drawer.

"Do you mind me asking what? You got me curious now," Aiden said.

Tiffany blushed; embarrassed. She took out what she had gone into her drawer for and held it out for Aiden to see. It was a How to Waltz DVD.

Aiden smirked. "You don't know how to waltz?"

Tiffany shook her head. "No. And I need to learn. My cousin James is getting married in a few weeks. His mother—my aunt— died of cancer years ago, and he's sad he won't get to have a mother-son dance at the reception. His father never remarried, so he doesn't even have a stepmother do dance with. My father and his mom don't have a sister, so there goes that idea too."

"I'm sorry to hear about your aunt," Aiden said.

"Thank you. Anyway, I wanted to surprise him by dancing with him in place of her. Sad thing is, I don't know how," Tiffany explained. She held up the DVD again. "I was hoping this would help me learn."

Aiden shrugged. "Well, I can teach you. It's not that hard, really. In fact, I could teach you right now if you'd like. It might be easier than trying to lean from a DVD!" He winked.

Tiffany's face lit up. "Oh would you?"

Aiden nodded. "Of course! Let's dance upstairs though. There's more room."

Tiffany nodded. "All right."

So, they headed up the stairs to dance.

"Wow, this is quite a place you've got up here! I bet Hope is thrilled with it," Tiffany said as she looked around the rooftop room for the first time.

Aiden nodded. "She adores it!" He then went over to his IPod, which was still in the dock. "We can dance to mine and Hope's song. It's really the only song I have on my iPod that's good for waltzing." He selected the song and pressed play.

"Pretty song!" Tiffany said.

Aiden nodded. "It brings back great memories of me falling in love for the first time with Hope. We've got to get into hold." He arranged them so that they were in the right positions. "Now, follow my lead. "One, two, three… One, two, three…"

Tiffany smiled as she glided around with him. "This is kind of fun! Am I doing it right?"

"Yes! Very good! You're a natural. "Arms up just a bit…"

Tiffany did as told.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

Meanwhile, Hope arrived at the office with cheese burgers and fries from Mc. Donald's, two sodas, and two coffees.

Her eyes narrowed when she saw another car in the parking lot. If that was Tiffany's car…

She got out of the car, struggling to not drop anything as she picked up the drink tray and to-go bag. She then shut the car door by leaning into it, before heading into the office.

She balanced the bag and drink tray in one hand as she opened the door, then let it shut on its own as she headed into the main area. "Aiden?" she called out. There was no answer. She set the food and drinks on the table in the break room, then headed to Aiden's office. The door was open, but Aiden was nowhere to be found.

She then headed up to their rooftop room. When she got to the door, she heard hers and Aiden's song playing. Forgetting she had seen an extra car outside, she smiled big and opened the door, thinking that Aiden had seen her pull in, and that he had wanted to surprise her with their song.

However, when she walked into the room and saw him twirling Tiffany around, Tiffany laughing, her stomach dropped.

He pulled Tiffany close to his body after swinging her, and Hope felt like she was going to throw up.

Aiden and Tiffany both noticed her at the same time.

"Hope! What are you doing here?" Aiden asked her in surprise.

Hope got tears in her eyes and shook her head. "I can't believe it. I was right all along. You're cheating on me. Not only that but in the room you had created for me! _And_ you're waltzing with her—to our song at that!"

"Hope, you got it all wrong—again!" Aiden sounded annoyed now.

Hope narrowed her eyes at Tiffany. "All this time you really _have_ been a slut behind my back! You tried to trick me by using excuses to hang out with him, and I was dumb enough to fall for it!

Tiffany sighed, and crossed her arms over her chest. "You know, Hope, this is really starting to get old!"

"Hope, she wanted to learn how to waltz so that she could dance with her cousin at his wedding since his mother died of cancer and can't dance the mother-son dance with him," Aiden explained; still annoyed sounding.

Hope snorted, and crossed her arms over her chest as well. "You're going to have to come up with a better lie than that, Aiden!" She raised her eyebrow at him. "I'm a cop, remember?" She shook her head. "I don't believe this. I should have known!" She narrowed her eyes at him. "Once a liar, always a liar!"

Aiden snapped then. "You know what? I'm sick of this! You're never going to trust me, are you? Sure I gave you reason to not rust me in the past, but I've changed! I thought you believed that I changed!"

"I thought you did! Apparently, not!" Hope snapped. She sighed. "Once again, I should have stayed with Rafe. At least I could trust _him_!"

Aiden appeared visibly hurt. "Well, if you feel that way, then maybe you should have. I know you don't believe me, Hope, but everything I've been telling you is all true. Nothing is going on between Tiffany and me, and nothing ever will be. We work together. She helps me and I help her because I like to help my employees. I like to consider them friends, and hope that they consider me the same. It's all innocent, yet you keep coming in and assuming it's something it's not, then running off your mouth!"

"Don't you talk to me that way!" Hope snapped.

"I'm sorry, Hope, but I'm sick of it. You know what?" Aiden held up his hands. "I'm done! I love you, Hope, but you said it yourself when I came back to town the last time—we can't have a relationship without trust. You clearly don't trust me, and if you haven't learned to trust me by now, I'm guessing you never will!"

Hope held her head high. "So that's it, then? You're just going to leave me and the babies?"

"Oh, I'm still going to be there for our twins. But as for you, I don't know if I can anymore. I did everything I could to show you I'm trust worthy, but you just refuse to believe it. Now you say you should have stuck with Rafe? Just get out of my law firm. I can't look at you right now!" Aiden snapped.

Hope concentrated on her anger so as to stop the tears from flowing. "Fine! Be with your precious Tiffany then for all I care!" With that, she turned and stormed down the stairs and out of the law firm at top speed. She didn't go back to grab the food. She wasn't hungry anymore.

She hopped into her car and sped off toward home, crying most of the way there.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

 __"Are you all right?" Tiffany asked, placing a hand over top of Aiden's shoulder.

Aiden shook his head. "No." He had tears in his own eyes.

"Do you want me to stay with you for a while?" Tiffany asked. "As a friend of course."

Aiden shook his head. "I just want to be alone, but thank you."

She kissed his cheek and gently rubbed his back. "She'll be back. She loves you just as much as you love her. I'll lock up downstairs." She then took off down the stairs.

Aiden shut the door to the roof room and locked it. Then, he laid down on the bed and cried.

 _ **~*came back to me*~**_

 __Sniffling, Hope called up Ciara. She knew Ciara was still mad at her, but right now, she really needed to hear her not-so-baby girl's voice.

"What do you want, Mom?" Ciara asked when picking up.

Hope was taken aback. "I just want to talk, Baby."

"I'm not a baby, so please don't call me that anymore," Ciara complained.

Hope wiped some tears from her eyes. "I'm sorry, I—"

"Mom, this is really not a good time. I have to study for a huge test tomorrow. Besides, as long as you can't accept Skylar, I have nothing more to say to you. Goodbye, Mom."

"Ciara, wait, I—"

Hope was interrupted by the dial tone. Ciara had hung up on her.

Hope clicked off the phone, then could no longer take it. She burst into tears and was sobbing hysterically on her bed. Then suddenly, she cried out and grabbed her stomach. She had just had the sharpest pain. She knew that feeling all too well. It was a contraction. "No. It's way too early!" She said. "Please no." But then another contraction came a moment later, this one stronger than the other. "No! You can't come now!" She cried. She picked up the phone and dialed Shawn's number.

"Mom, what's up?" Shawn asked.

"Shawn, Baby, I'm having contractions. It hurts so bad!" Hope cried. She cried out in pain as another one hit.

"Contractions? But Mom, it's too early!" Shawn said; slightly panicked.

"Tell the twins that!" Hope said.

"Where's Aiden?" Shawn asked.

"He's at work. We got into an argument. I think we broke up." Hope began sobbing, then cried out in pain as another sharp pain hit her. She suddenly felt wet. She put her hand over the crotch of her jeans and cried out when she saw blood.

"Mom, what's wrong?" Shawn was sounding in a full-on panic now.

"Blood. There's blood, Shawn! I'm bleeding!" Hope cried out. "I'm spotting. What if I lose the babies? I can't lose my twins. Not again!" She was frantic now.

"Mom, I'm on my way. I'm taking you to the hospital!" Shawn said.

"Hurry!" Hope said, gripping her stomach and crying.

Shawn hung up.

Hope hung up too, then laid on the bed in a fetal position, grasping her stomach and crying out as yet another contraction hit.

 _ **~*came back to me*~**_

Aiden sniffled as his phone rang. "Please be Hope," he said to it. He picked it up. When he saw that it was Shawn, he almost didn't answer. After all, he figured Shawn was just going to give him a lecture, and right now, he really didn't need that! But, he answered anyway. "Hello, Shawn," he said quietly.

"Aiden, Mom's in labor early. She needs you at the hospital right away!" Shawn said.

Aiden felt his whole body fill with panic. "I'll be right there!" He clicked off the phone, put his shoes back on, and then hightailed it out of the room and out of the law firm, barely remembering to re-lock up before he left. If something happened to the twins or Hope, he was never going to forgive himself…


	49. S2E24

_**This Love…**_

 _ **S2E24: I'm Sorry**_

"I want Aiden. I need Aiden!" Hope said as Kayla looked at the monitor of the sonogram screen. "Shawn told me he called him. Why isn't Aiden here now? He must be still angry with me."

Shawn was waiting in the waiting room since Kayla had had to check the bleeding situation. Thankfully, the bleeding wasn't too severe—no more blood than the beginning of a menstrual cycle—so it wasn't a dire concern of Kayla's at the moment.

"I'm not exactly Aiden's biggest fan, and I'm not sure what you two fought about, but I do know that he loves you and the twins. He would never not show up. He's probably just stuck in traffic," Kayla gently soothed her.

Hope cried out as another contraction hit. "Please you've got to stop the labor! It's too early for them to come!" she cried to Kayla.

"You're not in labor. You've had a partial placental abruption. It's very common in women who are have babies late in life—especially with multiples. The placenta has partially detached from the uterus. It caused contractions that feel very much like labor contractions," Kayla explained. She turned off the sonogram machine, and wiped the gel off Hope's stomach, before pulling her paper robe back down for her. "It's going to be okay. Don't worry."

"Are my babies going to be all right?" Hope asked; tears in her eyes.

"I'm going to do everything in my power to make sure that they are. The placenta provides their nourishment, so this isn't good, but it helps that it's only partially separated. I am going to have Maxine come in and give you a blood test just to make sure, but I can tell already that that is what it is." Kayla checked Hope's bleeding situation again, then smiled. "Thankfully the bleeding stopped. We're going to get those contractions under control too, then I'm going to admit you for a couple of nights just to be safe. After that, you have to be on partial bedrest for the remainder of your pregnancy," Kayla explained.

Just then, Aiden came rushing into the room. "Are you all right? Are the babies all right?" he asked Hope.

Hope held her arms out to him, tears of fear in her eyes.

Aiden rushed over to her. "Did we lose them?" Tears filled his own eyes.

"No, the babies should be fine as long as Hope takes care of herself," Kayla answered for Hope.

"I had a partial placenta abruption. It causes contractions that feel like labor, and it caused me to bleed. I thought I was having a miscarriage!" Hope sobbed out of relief as she buried her face in Aiden's chest while he held her.

"What causes it, and what can be done about it?" Aiden asked.

"No one is really for sure. It happens suddenly. Abdominal trauma and high blood pressure are two reasons said to be a cause. Stress can cause high blood pressure. I know Hope has been stressed lately, so that could be the reason. I'm going to have her blood tested just to be sure this is an abruption. I know it is, but it's always good to get a second confirmation. The bleeding stopped, so I'm going to give her something to stop the contractions, and I'm also going to prescribe her medication to help the twins' lungs grow. They will need the extra help with the placenta being partially separated," Kayla explained. "I'm also admitting her for two nights just to be safe."

Hope cried out again in pain as another contraction hit. She looked up at Kayla pitifully. "Please hurry!"

"All right. I'm going to go get what I need to stop the contractions while Maxine comes in, hooks you up with an IV, and gives you a blood test. I'll be back as soon as I can." Kayla gently rubbed her arm. "Don't worry. Everything's going to be okay," she said soothingly with a small smile.

"Can Aiden stay with me?" Hope asked. "I need him to stay with me." She squeezed his hand.

Kayla hesitated. She looked from Aiden to Hope, then gave her a weak smile. "That would be fine. I'll be right back!" She then left.

Maxine entered then. "How are you doing, Hope?" she asked sympathetically.

"I've been better," Hope replied, too worried to even attempt a smile.

"Aw, don't worry! We've had lots of mothers with placenta abruptions and they were able to deliver healthy and happy babies just fine—even with full placenta abruptions," Maxine assured her.

Hope looked Aiden in the eyes, and he gently rubbed his thumb over the back of her free hand as Maxine hooked up the IV to her other hand.

"I know, this sucks, all this poking and prodding. I'm sorry," Maxine said as she then preceded to take Hope's blood a moment later.

"It's okay," Hope said quietly. "I'm so worried, I barely even feel it." She winced as another contraction hit. "A needle prick is nothing compared to these contractions!"

"I'm going to put a rush on this for the lab. Kayla will be right back to stop those nasty contractions, I promise! You're going to be all right," Maxine said to Hope with a kind smile once she had finished taking her blood.

Hope smiled back. "Thank you, Maxine." She then cried out as another contraction hit.

As soon as Maxine left, Aiden gently rubbed her stomach in an attempt to help. "I'm so sorry for all the things I said, Baby! I didn't mean them. I love you. I just hate when you can't trust me because I know it's my fault that you can't. But I promise you, I am not lying about Tiffany. She is my friend and that is _it_! Nothing happened between her and I, and nothing ever will. You are my everything, Hope. Why would I want her when I already have the woman of my dreams?"

Hope felt her heart melt. She suddenly felt ashamed for the way she had acted, and about the things she had said. "I'm the one who should be sorry. I never should have brought Rafe into it. I was just trying to hurt you because I thought you had hurt me."

Aiden gently stroked some hair out of her eyes. "Not every again, Baby. I'm never going to hurt you again."

Hope took his hand and kissed it. "I'm sorry I let myself believe you'd cheat. I don't want Rafe; I want _you_. I don't want anything to ever jeopardize you and I being together—not ever again." She winced as another contraction hit. "I hope Kayla gets here soon…"

"I promise you, nothing ever will ever jeopardize us," Aiden assured her as he gently rubbed her stomach again. "I can see how it must have looked. I should have thought about it before I took her up to yours and my room and danced with her to yours and my song—especially when I knew how you felt about her."

Hope winced in pain, and placed her hand over Aiden's. "It's okay. I guess I just got jealous seeing you dance with her the way you danced with me. Dancing to our song made it sting more. Also, I know it seems petty, but I hate that she was up in our room. I want that room to just be ours—no one else's but ours. Well, the twins can come up too when they're born… I guess." She grinned and Aiden to show she was only joking with the 'I guess'.

Aiden smiled, and gently stroked her hair. "From now on, deal! No one but us and possibly the twins will be allowed in our room." He kissed her forehead. "But please promise me, the next time you're worried about something, you'll talk to me first before getting angry?"

Hope nodded. "I promise!" She winced as another contraction hit. "I guess I'll start now. I hate that you work so late most nights. You know the old cliché about women being cheated on when their husbands are supposedly working late. Then I saw Tiffany was there with you, in our room, dancing with you, and…my hormonal mind jumped to false conclusions as usual."

"Well, I really was working. I just want to be able to provide the best things for the love of my life and our babies," Aiden admitted.

Hope took his hand and stroked the back of his hand with her thumb. "All we need is you."

"And you're always going to have me," Aiden assured her.

They kissed, then, Hope cried out, and pulled away from him.

"Please tell me that was because of another contraction and not because of my kiss!" Aiden joked. "I'm not _that_ bad of a kisser am I?" he teased.

Hope grinned. "Very funny."

"I mean, I guess I could practice on Tiffany," he joked.

"Aiden Jennings, you stop that this instant!" Hope said, though she was grinning. She cried out in pain again.

"I'm going back to working normal hours. It's not worth upsetting my baby," Aiden said, kissing her hands.

Hope had tears in her eyes, though this time they were from happiness. "I love you, Mr. Jennings—so much!"

"And I love you, my baby." Aiden kissed her softly on the lips.

Kayla came in then, and headed straight to Hope's IV. "Sorry it took me so long. Someone moved the drug to the back, and I had a heck of a time finding it. Ugh!" She injected the medication into Hope's IV. "This should start taking effect right away…"

Hope sighed with relief. "Thank you."

"Now it is absolutely imperative that you stay on partial bedrest once you're home. All right? And any stress you may start to feel, drop it! It's not as important as your unborn twins' lives. Got it?" Kayla asked kindly yet sternly.

Hope nodded. "Got it!"

"I'll make sure she rests and stays stress-free," Aiden assured Kayla.

Kayla looked from Aiden to Hope. "There's one more thing that I really must insist upon for the sake of your babies."

"What is it?" Hope asked.

Kayla looked at Aiden. "You must refrain from having sex from now until after the babies are born, and until Hope is well enough to." She looked at Hope. "Right now with a partially detached placenta, it's too much for your body right now. You have to be really careful in everything you do. No lifting anything either. No heavy boxes for the nursery, no moving furniture…. I know that part is probably a given but I have to say it just in case."

"No sex at all? Even if we're gentle?" Aiden asked; disappointed.

Kayla shook her head. "She's due in three months. You'll both survive. Then it will make it even more special when you're finally allowed to again." She smiled weakly.

Aiden sighed. "Whatever it takes to keep the twins safe and healthy."

Hope nodded. "Absolutely!"

"I also want you to come in for weekly checkups now," Kayla said to Hope. "I'm going to go start the paperwork for getting you admitted and into a room." She then left to do just that.

"Three months? This is going to be torture, not being able to be with you intimately, Baby," Aiden murmured. He took Hope's hand in his and kissed it.

Hope nodded. "I know. But, like Kayla said, once we're allowed to again, it will make it all the more special." She winked at Aiden.

"It's always special with you, Baby," Aiden murmured, his eyes lowered with love for her.

Hope's eyes lowered with love for him. "Likewise," she murmured. They kissed.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

Later that night, Hope was in the room they gave her. Even though she'd only be staying there a couple nights anyway, she was still glad she didn't have a roommate.

Shawn had informed her that he had called Ciara and told her about Hope being in the hospital. Ciara had agreed to come home tomorrow.

Hope hoped that this was a good sign. The (what she thought was) early labor scare had made her reevaluate things. For a moment, she had thought she was going to lose the twins. That would have been five of her babies lost to death. Thankfully, they were going to be okay but even so, she didn't want to lose a single child of hers ever again. With Ciara not talking to her, it felt like losing her. She had made the decision right then and there to accept Skylar. She supposed if Ciara had to be gay, at least she picked a nice girl. Hope wasn't fond of the tattoos and piercings, but she knew that Skylar was right. She didn't force Ciara to get them. Ciara didn't let others persuade her into doing something she didn't want to do. Even as a little girl it had been that way.

"Knock, knock!" Carol said as she knocked on the open door.

Hope broke from her thoughts and smiled at Carol. "Hi, Carol! How are you?"

"How am _I_? I think the more important question here is how are _you_?" Carol walked into the room. She was holding a magazine and a Get Well Soon balloon.

"For me?" Hope asked with a smile.

"No, actually, it's for that hot male candy striper making his rounds." Carol grinned and winked.

Hope laughed.

"Of course it's for you, silly!" Carol set the balloon, which was attached to a present-shaped piece of plastic that kept the balloon from flying away, down on the nightstand. She handed Hope the magazine. "You strike me as a _Cosmo_ girl."

Hope smiled. "Thank you! It's perfect," Hope said as she took the _Cosmo_ magazine from her. "In answer to your question, I'm fine. I had a partial placenta abruption, and that's why I had the contractions. They were able to stop both the contractions and the bleeding. Now I'm on bedrest. They wanted to keep me here for a few nights on observation."

"Are my nephew and niece all right?" Carol asked, biting her fingernail with worry.

Hope nodded, and gently placed her hand over her stomach. "They'll be just fine as long as I take it easy and stay stress-free."

"Good! I don't want anything to happen to you, _or_ my little nephew and niece!" Carol said. "So, where's my brother? Did he go home already? What a punk!"

Hope smiled. "Don't worry. He just left to pack me a bag for the two nights I'll be staying here."

"At least it's only for two nights, but I don't know why they can't make hospitals more like hotels," Carol said as she ran her handover the rough bedspread. "The doctors and nurses always say they want you to be comfortable, yet they keep the door open at night so that you can hear every single sound of the hospital. Not to mention they wake you up to give you medication, check your blood pressure, or what not. I'd go insane! At least in Andre's private hospital I got to have peace and quiet."

Hope nodded. "Sometimes they even wake patients up to give them something to help them sleep when they are already sleeping!"

Carol laughed. "I know, right?"

"And could they spare the blankets? I get one cheap sheet, one thin blanket, and a scratchy comforter which is really only as thick as a good quality blanket," Hope said.

"It's not like they can't afford better bedding," Carol noted.

"Exactly!" Hope agreed. "I think that hot candy striper you were talking about should come in here and make it up to me."

Carol gasped, and playfully swatted her. "You're so bad!" she said with a laugh.

"I was only kidding. You know your brother is the only man for me," Hope assured her.

Carol wrinkled her nose. "God only knows what you see in him," she teased.

"Hey! I heard that!" Aiden said as he came in with Hope's bag then.

Carol rolled her eyes. "Of course he'd return just in time to hear me insult him!" She then turned around to face Aiden. "Not that I care." She stuck her tongue out at him.

Aiden stuck it back out at her. "Hope's been through enough without having to look at your ugly face today!" he quipped back.

" _Haha_ …" Carol said sarcastically, making a face at him.

Hope grinned. She guessed it didn't matter how old they got. Siblings would always be siblings.

Aiden set Hope's bag down in the bathroom. "It's there when you need it. Just make sure you take everything with you when you leave. Hospitals have a way of mysteriously losing things." He walked over to Hope and kissed her forehead. "How are you feeling?"

Hope smiled up at him. "Much better now. Thank you for binging my clothes and toiletries for me. I love you."

"Anytime. I love you too, my baby." Aiden said before kissing her lovingly on the lips.

"Gag," Carol said, making a gagging motion with her finger.

Aiden smirked at her. "You're just upset you're stuck kissing Andre. You know, I still can't believe you went back to him after what he did to Casey."

Carol's expression grew serious. "Spare me the lecture, please? I've already gotten one from Casey."

Aiden sighed. "I just want my big sister to be happy and safe."

"And I'm both! Thank you for caring. I'm glad to see my little brother is happy and safe too." She got up off the bed and kissed his cheek. "I may razz you, but I love you."

"Just as I love you," Aiden said, gently rubbing her back. "Thank you for visiting Hope. I appreciate it."

"Hey. I was glad to." Carol smiled, and Hope and gently squeezed her hand. "As far as I'm concerned, she's the sister I never had but always wanted."

Hope had tears in her eyes. "That is the sweetest thing you've ever said to me. It's an honor to be your sister."

"Okay, I'm going to go now before I cry." Carol smiled weakly. "You take care of yourself. I need you to help keep my brother in line." She winked at Hope and gently pat her legs, which were covered by the blankets.

Hope laughed. "Don't worry. I will."

"See you later, Gatoraid," Carol said to Aiden with a smirk.

"See you later, Bitch," Aiden jabbed one last time.

Carol whipped around from the doorway, her mouth dropped in surprise. "You'll pay for that!" She smirked, then left disappearing down into the elevator.

Hope shook her head. "You two are like children!"

Aiden grinned at her. "That's okay. When the twins are born they'll be able to relate to us better this way."

Hope laughed. "Come here you!"

Aiden walked over to her, then she pulled him down onto the bed with her, and they kissed.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

The next morning, Ciara arrived just before lunch. She walked into Hope's hospital room while Aiden was at work. "Mom!" She ran to her.

"Ciara! I wasn't sure you'd come!" Hope said, holding her arms out to her.

Ciara hugged her gently, as if she were afraid Hope would break. "You're in the hospital and you could have lost the twins. Of course I came!" She then looked Hope in the eyes. "I'm _so_ sorry I hung up on you, Mom. Shawn told me this happened because of high blood pressure as a result of your stress. It's all my fault!" She had tears in her eyes.

Hope shook her head. "No, it wasn't your fault. It's my own fault for letting my hormones get the best of me, and for not learning how to relax."

"Still, it happened after I hung up on you." Ciara sat down in a chair next to the bed.

"It was just a coincidence. Anyway, if anyone should be apologizing, it's me. When I thought I was going to lose two more babies, it made me think of you, and how I was losing you even though you're still alive. I never want to lose you, Baby. I'm sorry. I know you're not a baby anymore. Ciara," Hope corrected herself with a sad smile.

"I was just being a brat. I don't mind you calling me Baby." Ciara smirked. "Though, it is kind of weird that Aiden calls you what you call me."

"It's two different contexts," Hope said with a smirk of her own and an eyebrow raised.

"Anyway, you're never going to lose me, Mom. It hurts me that you won't accept me as I am, and that you won't accept Skylar, but I don't want to lose you over it." Ciara teared up. "On the plane ride here, I kept thinking how you could have died and the last thing I said to you was I didn't have time, and that there was nothing more I had to say to you. I'd have never forgiven myself if those were my last words to you!"

"Oh, Baby, I'm fine! Come here!" Hope said, holding her arms out again.

Ciara ran to her, hugging her a little tighter this time. She sniffled, then pulled away. "So you and the twins are all fine?"

Hope nodded. "It was a partial placenta abruption. I just need bedrest from now until the birth."

Ciara sat back down and smirked. "I'm sure you're not going to like that!"

Hope smiled. "Are you kidding me? I'm going to hate it! But if it keeps the babies healthy and safe, then that's what I'll do." She then turned serious. "Ciara, I am so sorry for not accepting you for who you now are. I'm also sorry for not accepting Skylar. I want to give her a chance this time—a _real_ chance. How about the next time you come down, you bring her too? We can have a girls' day. And if you want to get piercings and tattoos, then so be it. Just don't expect _me_ to get any. And please don't get any more huge tattoos or worse, a sleeve. I ask you as a mother."

Ciara blushed. "Actually, I have something to confess."

"You broke up with Skylar?" Hope asked hopefully.

Ciara raised an eyebrow at her. "Mom."

Hope held her hands up. "Sorry! Sorry. Old habits die hard. I still stand by what I said. Sheesh, the eyebrow raise used against me!" She smirked. "What is it?"

Ciara showed her arm to Hope—the arm that last time had the huge Bo memorial tattoo on it.

"No more tattoo!" Hope said in shock. She looked at Ciara. "You had it removed?"

Ciara smiled. "It wore off. I was angry with you for assuming the worst of Skylar, so I had a friend of Skylar's and mine that does custom temporary tattoos do it. I just wanted to freak you out."

"Oh thank God! That tattoo was so ugly!" Hope said.

Ciara laughed. "I know, right? I can't believe you fell for that! I did get a real tattoo though. It's just more subtle."

Hope sighed. She still didn't like the idea of a tattoo, but she didn't want to upset Ciara. "Can I see it please?"

Ciara pulled her shirt up, and there over her heart was a little red heart with Bo's name written in black in the middle, a cross coming through the O in Bo. There was a halo above the cross, and angel wings attached to the back of cross. It was the size of a quarter.

Hope got tears in her eyes. "That is beautiful, Baby! I really mean that."

Ciara pulled her shirt back down and smiled. "Really?"

Hope nodded. "Really!"

"Did it hurt much?" Hope asked.

Ciara shrugged. "I'd give it a four on a scale of one to ten. I expected it to hurt more."

"I'm glad it didn't!" Hope said. "I hate the thought of you being hurt."

"The piercings were all fake. Well, except for all the ones on my ears. Skylar only has her ears an, nose, and belly button pierced. She doesn't really have our initials tattooed on her. She has a Skylark across the back of her right shoulder, and she has a red rose tattoo over her ankle. That's it. The "tramp stamp" was fake too. We were both in on the prank. Though, I had to talk Skylar into it. She hadn't wanted to antagonize you," Ciara admitted.

"Well that's a relief! Oh, and I see the hair cut it real," Hope said, nodding toward Ciara's short hair.

Ciara ran her fingers over it. "Don't worry, I'm growing it out. I just wanted to try something new, but it was a bad experiment. I'm going to grow it out to right above my shoulders."

"That would be really pretty!" Hope said, relieved.

"So you really mean it about the girls' day with Skylar?" Ciara asked, an eyebrow raised.

Hope nodded. "Yes! I will even personally apologize to her. We could do a spa day and lunch, then maybe a movie and dinner if you both would like. My treat!"

"We would both love that!" Ciara was grinning big now. "Thanks, Mom!"

"Anything for you, Baby," Hope said to her.

"So, where's Aiden?" Ciara asked, looking around.

"I made him go to work. He was going to take the day off, but I knew there was nothing he could do here with me. He might as well be making money. Though, I must say I'm happy for the company." She winked at Ciara. "I get bored here."

"I just so happen to have a deck of Phase 10 in my purse if you want to play. But don't expect me to let you win just because you're in the hospital," Ciara said as she took the cards out of her purse.

"And don't expect me to let you win just because you're my daughter!" Hope said, eyebrow raised.

"Game on!" Ciara said.

Hope nodded. "Game on!" she agreed, so happy to be on good terms with Ciara again.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

Ciara had taken a couple days off, so she, Shawn, and Aiden all took Hope home together the next day.

"Straight to bed, Baby. I don't want you having a relapse," Aiden said to her.

Hope rolled her eyes. "Aiden, please! There will be plenty of time for that later. I just spent the last two days in bed. I want to get out and do things!"

"You really do need to take it easy, Mom. For the twins' sake," Shawn warned her.

Ciara nodded. "How about you and I go for a walk while Shawn picks us out a movie and Aiden orders a pizza in for dinner?"

Hope sighed. She had wanted to go out, but then again, a night at home with her family, her kids accepting Aiden as part of the family… How could she resist that? "All right," she agreed. She looked at Shawn. "But don't pick anything horror. I see enough horror on a daily basis."

"I _told_ Carol she shouldn't have gotten her face so close to yours!" Aiden quipped.

Ciara and Shawn both laughed.

Hope beamed. "I'm gonna tell her you said that!"

Aiden grinned.

Hope and Ciara then went for their walk, Shawn picked a nice comedy out, and Aiden ordered a meat lovers pizza with extra meat, which was a very good start to making Hope stress-free and happy.

Maybe Hope thought, things would finally look up for her.

 _ **~*came back to me*~**_

"Is there anything I can get you?" Aiden asked Hope as she lie in bed.

Hope smiled at him. "No, but I have something for you." She reached into her nightstand drawer and took out a framed photo. "Sorry. With the baby scare, I didn't have time to wrap it." She handed him the photo. "Happy Father's Day."

Aiden took the photo from her and looked at it. He got tears in his eyes when he saw that it was a framed photo of him sitting down with a toddler Chase, who was sitting in his lap. Aiden had his arms around Chase's waist. Chase had a big ice cream cone in his hands and chocolate ice cream smeared all over his face. Aiden was laughing in the photo, and even Chase had a big smile on his face.

Aiden looked at Hope. "Where did you get this?"

Hope grinned. "I had a little help from Carol." She winked. "Turns out she's more sentimental than you give her credit for. She has a storage room she is renting that is packed with boxes and boxes of family albums and heirlooms. It took me a while, but I finally found this picture. It was a little beat up, but I had it restored and framed." She placed her hand over Aiden's shoulder. "I knew how much it would mean to you since you miss him so much," she said in practically a whisper.

Aiden had more tears in his eyes. "This is the best thing you could have given me." His voice cracked. "Thank you so much! I love it. I love you!" He took Hope into his arms.

Hope hugged him tightly. "I love you too, My love."

They kissed passionately, and Aiden found himself really hating the no making love rule. So, in lieu of lovemaking, he showered her with kisses. Hope wasn't complaining.


	50. S2E25

_**This Love…**_

 _ **S2E25: Coming Home**_

Two nights had passed since Hope had gotten home from the hospital. Ciara had a red eye flight to catch that night, but first, Hope had wanted to do one last thing together as a family. They had eventually all agreed upon bowling. However, she was miffed because Aiden and the kids had insisted that she bowl with a six-pound ball.

"I'm not a child, nor am I a weakling. I can handle more than a six-pound ball," Hope said, shooting her family a look.

Aiden gently rubbed her back. "Baby, I know. I'm not trying to treat you like a child. It's just I worry about what Kayla said. She told you not to do any heavy lifting. I'm still not sure you should even be bowling."

"I'm sure she meant heavier things like thirty pounds and above," Hope reasoned.

"Still, Mom. We don't want to risk it. I don't want to lose you, _or_ my brother and sister," Ciara said to her.

Shawn nodded. "You always take care of us, now it's our turn to take care of you."

Hope sighed. "Fine. But I draw the line at the bowling ball ramp." She motioned to the ball ramp that they had brought over for her to use. "Those are for the handicapped and for children, neither of which I am."

"You're kind of handicapped in your current condition," Shawn quipped.

Hope shot him a look.

"I'll get this out of the way!" Shawn said, knowing not to test her when she had that look.

"Thank you!" Hope said.

Ciara set their names up on the board. "Shall we do teams? Girls against guys?" Ciara asked.

Hope nodded. "Sounds good to me!"

"Are you sure that's fair? Two girls against two guys?" Aiden asked.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Ciara asked.

Hope crossed her arms over her chest. "Yes." She raised an eyebrow. "I'd like to know."

"Men are generally stronger, and better at sports!" Aiden said simply.

"He has a point," Shawn agreed, coming over to him. "I mean, how many pro women bowlers do you know of?"

Aiden nodded. "Thank you!"

Ciara rolled her eyes. "Gosh, Mom, we really need to teach these guys a lesson!"

Hope nodded. "That we do! And for the record, can either of you name any _male_ professional bowlers?" She raised an eyebrow again.

"Well, no. I don't know any professional bowlers per say, but it's just a fact that men are better at sports!" Aiden replied.

Shawn nodded. "They really are."

Ciara narrowed her eyes at them. "You're going down!"

" _So_ down!" Hope agreed.

"Care to make a little wager on it?" Aiden asked.

"Winner buys dinner!" Hope said.

"Deal!" Shawn agreed.

Aiden nodded.

So, they began their game.

Hope was up first. She picked up her six-pound orange ball and rolled it down the lane. It only hit one pit on the right side before going into the gutter. "I'm a little rusty," Hope said. "Only because it's been a while since I last bowled! Not because women aren't as good as men at bowling." She waited for her ball to return, then rolled it again. It only knocked down two pins.

Frowning, she turned around to face Aiden and the kids. "It's the stupid ball! It has no weight to it to hit the pins!"

"Excuses, excuses!" Aiden teased. He went up to bowl using his sixteen-pound green ball. He got a strike. He turned to Hope and grinned. "That's how it's done!"

Shawn laughed, and high-fived him.

Hope raised an eyebrow. "You have the heaviest ball. It's really not fair."

"Don't worry, Mom. I'll get them!" Ciara said. She picked up her twelve-pound purple ball and rolled it down the lane. She hit eight pins.

"So much for that!" Shawn teased.

Ciara shot him a look. "I'll get them."

Her ball came back up and she rolled her ball again. She then let out a "yes" and jumped up and down as the ball hit both remaining pins at once. She turned around and stuck her tongue out at Shawn. "Take that!" She high-fived Hope.

"We'll just see what you get next frame. I say you choke!" Shawn said.

Ciara rolled her eyes. "Let's see you do better."

Shawn was up next. He picked up his fifteen-pound blue ball and rolled it down the lane. He got them all down but two.

"Haha, a split! You'll never get them both, which means I'm doing better than you so far," Ciara taunted her brother. She stuck her tongue out at him.

Shawn rolled his eyes. "What are you, ten? Besides, it's only the first frame. We'll see if you're still boasting come the end of the tenth frame." He rolled his ball, taking out the right pin, but of course leaving the left pin.

Hope grabbed her six-pound ball again. She rolled it down the lane, trying to give it more power this time. She hit four pins in the middle.

"That's good. Doing better!" Aiden encouraged, clapping his hands.

Hope knew he was just being nice, but she hated feeling like a child or an invalid. She rolled again with her orange ball, and hit just one more pin.

"Half the pins isn't bad, Mom!" Ciara said to her.

"That's it! I'm getting a fourteen-pound ball," Hope said. She picked up her orange ball to exchange it. "Fourteen pounds is not considered heavy lifting."

"Just try not to strain yourself, all right? I worry." Aiden took the ball from her. "I'll change it out for you."

"I love that you're looking out for me and the babies, but trust me. I wouldn't purposely do anything to put the babies at risk," Hope assured him.

"I know. I'm sorry." Aiden kissed her cheek.

"You're up next. I'll go exchange it myself. But I appreciate the offer." Hope kissed his cheek then went took her ball back from Aiden and went to exchange it.

"Come on, Aiden! You need this to count for your strike!" Shawn said, clapping his hands as Aiden went up to bowl.

"I'll get it!" Aiden said. He then rolled the ball, but he missed the last pin by a centimeter.

Ciara and Shawn both let out cries of sympathy.

"You'll get it next time," Shawn said. "That last pin is easy."

Aiden's ball returned and indeed, he as able to get the last pin down.

"Good job!" Shawn said, clapping.

"How'd you get so good at bowling?" Ciara asked him.

"I bowled a lot as a teen and well as well into my twenties," Aiden explained.

"When did you have the time?" Ciara asked. "I thought you'd be busy with law school."

Aiden smirked at her. "It wasn't all work and no play. I made sure to make time for fun as well."

Hope came back with a fourteen-pound yellow ball then, and set it in the ball rack.

"I see you got a spare!" Hope said.

Aiden nodded. "But I do better when my good luck charm is around." He kissed her cheek, then gently rubbed her shoulders. "I'll be right back. I need to take a bathroom break!"

"Well, at least now he seems to be treating you right," Ciara quipped once he was gone.

Hope nodded. "He has been ever since he came back."

"Apparently!" Shawn nodded toward her pregnant stomach. "Okay, I just grossed out myself."

Ciara made a face. "Gross, Shawn!"

Hope laughed. "How do you think you two got here?"

"Not by Aiden, thank God," Ciara quipped.

Hope shot her a look.

Ciara blushed. "Sorry. Like you said, old habits die hard." She then went up to bowl and got a gutter ball. "Ugh! On a spare!"

"Haha! And you thought you were so good!" Shawn said.

Ciara rolled her eyes. "You threw me off with putting nasty thoughts in my head."

"Whatever. You're just making excuses," Shawn teased.

Ciara made a face at him and picked up her ball again.

Aiden came back from the bathroom then.

Ciara hit all the pins. "Yes!" She pumped her fist in the air. She turned her back to Shawn with an eyebrow raised. "You were saying?"

Shawn shrugged. "You still screwed up your extra points from your first spare." He then went up to bowl.

Just as he was about to bowl, Ciara yelled out, "Imagine mom naked!"

Shawn stumbled, and his ball went straight into the gutter.

"Ciara Alice Brady, you stop that!" Hope said with a blush.

Shawn whipped around to shoot Ciara a look to kill. "You cheated!"

Ciara laughed and shrugged. "Hey, you grossed me out and caused _my_ game to be thrown off. Consider it payback!"

"I wasn't purposely trying to throw you off," Shawn reminded her.

Ciara shrugged again. "Well, if you're that good, then you should be able to make it up next roll."

Shawn rolled his eyes at her before rolling his ball. He got them all down.

"See?" Ciara said, "You were bitching for nothing."

Shawn rolled his eyes at her again.

Aiden looked at Hope. "Is this what we have to look forward to with the twins when they get to be their age?"

Hope laughed. She then placed her hands over her stomach, and smiled at her womb. "If we're lucky!" She grinned at Aiden.

Aiden grinned back.

 _ **~*came back to me*~**_

"Aiden, no pressure, but you have to hit all the pins if you want us to still have a chance at winning," Shawn said.

"See? I did a lot better once I had the heavier ball. Now you guys might lose!" Hope said.

"Who says men are better than woman at sports?" Ciara asked.

"I got this!" Aiden said to Shawn. He paused a moment, then he rolled the ball. It hit all but two pins, leaving a split.

"Yes!" Ciara and Hope high-fived.

"We won!" Ciara said.

"No, he could still get a spare!" Shawn reminded her.

"He's not going to with a split!" Hope said with a smirk.

Aiden looked at her. "You underestimate me, my Love." His ball came back up, and he took a deep breath and slowly let it out. He could do this. He used to do it all the time when he was younger. He had perfected it. He just hoped he didn't choke.

He rolled the ball. It seemed to take forever to get down the lane. Hope, Ciara, and Shawn were all quiet as they watched.

The ball hit the right pin at an angle causing the pin to fly over and hit the left pin.

"Yes!" Aiden said, pumping a fist in the air and jumping.

Shawn ran over to him and hugged him. "That was _so_ cool! Way to go! You're going to have to teach me how to do that one day soon."

Aiden grinned at him. "Any time!"

Hope smiled; pleased to see her son finally warming to Aiden. Aiden and Shawn being on the same bowling team turned out to be a good thing, she realized.

"Yeah, yeah, you didn't win yet!" Ciara said.

She rolled her ball and hit nine pins. She lost her spare. "Crap! I thought I had it!"

"It's okay, Baby! They still need to hit a strike to win," Hope said.

"It's done!" Shawn said. He went up to roll his ball. He didn't even hesitate. He rolled it, and hit a strike just like that.

"Oh come on! How did _you_ get so good?" Ciara whined.

Shawn grinned at her and shrugged. "Men are good at sports! What can I say?" He rolled the ball again and got nine pins down for his bonus roll.

"You guys may have won, but it's not because you're guys and we're women. We don't have time tonight, but next time, we're having a rematch!" Hope said.

"Bring it on!" Shawn and Aiden both said in unison. They laughed.

"Jinx!" Shawn said.

"So, I believe you two owe us some dinner!" Aiden said to Hope and Ciara. "But honestly though, it's on me. I'm just happy we won."

"No, no. You won fair and square. It's on us," Hope said.

Ciara nodded. "How about we all share a pizza?"

"Extra pepperoni please!" Shawn said.

"And pineapple!" Hope chimed in, her hands over her stomach.

"And breadsticks!" Ciara piped in.

"I want chicken wings." Aiden said.

"I can go get it," Shawn offered to the girls. "It's the least we can do since you're paying. Drink orders please! Pepsi for me."

Hope wanted a caffeine free Pepsi with lemon, and Ciara wanted a Mountain Dew.

Shawn looked at Aiden. "You like Dr. Pepper, right?"

Aiden nodded. "Yes! You remembered."

Shawn grinned. "I'm a cop. It's my job to remember details." He then headed off to order the food and drinks.

Aiden sat down next to Ciara.

She looked at him. "Thank you."

"For what?" he asked her in surprise.

"For accepting me as I am, and for accepting Skylar as my girlfriend even when my Mom didn't. It meant a lot to me. I meant to thank you earlier, but it's hard for me to admit that you did something right." She blushed. "No offense."

Aiden smiled at her. "None taken. Skylar seems like a very nice girl, and I'm looking forward to getting to know her better. Maybe you and I could even get to know each other again. It seems we've both changed since last time I was here."

Ciara smiled at him. "I'd like that," she said sincerely. She then felt awkward. "I guess I better go help Shawn. The moron can't carry all that food on his own." She then got up to help him.

Aiden looked at Hope. "I didn't want to ruin the moment by informing her that someone comes out and delivers the food for us."

Hope grinned, and moved so that she was now sitting next to him. She gently rubbed his back. "You have no idea how happy it makes me to see both my kids finally warming up to you!"

Aiden smiled weakly. "I just hope it stays that way."

Hope kissed his cheek. "It will. I promise." She then rested her head on his shoulder and smiled; more content than she had been in a very long time.

 _ **~*came back to me*~**_

It was the Fourth of July, and Hope and Aiden held hands as they entered the Town Square's annual Fourth of July bash. Most of Salem was there. There were hot dogs and burgers on a grill, carnival games, fair food, and raffles. There were even a handful of rides set up in the park. There was a makeshift dancefloor, and a live band as well.

"I wish Ciara could have made it. She used to love these things," Hope said as she and Aiden waited in line for food.

"I know, but next year she'll be here. She's meeting Skylar's parents for the first time. That's a big deal!" Aiden then flushed. "I'm sorry. I don't mean to rub their relationship in your face."

Hope squeezed his hand and smiled at him. "It's fine. I promised Ciara I would accept their relationship, and I will. A BBQ at Skylar's parent's place in Florida sounds like fun! Though, I must say I don't envy her being in that heat. Florida gets so hot this time of year!"

Aiden laughed. "And you're always hot as it is!"

Hope nodded. "Exactly! I get even hotter now that I'm pregnant. Not that I'm eager to go through labor again, but I will be glad once these last two months are over and I get these babies out of me!" She placed her hands over her womb. "No offense, my loves."

"Less than two months actually!" Aiden reminded her.

"Yes! Thank God," Hope replied.

They arrived at the front of the line. Hope ordered a cheese burger, fries, and a caffeine free Pepsi, and Aiden ordered a hot dog, fries, and a Dr. Pepper.

They then went to sit down at one of the many tables that was set out for the partygoers.

Hope smiled and waved when she saw Shawn and Claire sitting at a table. "Hey! Mind if we sit here?" She sat down without waiting for a response. "Ugh! It feels good to sit. I feel like I'm lugging around two bowling balls."

Shawn smirked. "Hi, Mom. Don't worry. The twins will be born soon enough."

"And once they keep you up all night with their crying, you'll wish they were back in the womb," Claire teased.

Hope and Aiden both laughed.

"I'm sure you're right!" Aiden said.

Hope grinned. "Maybe." She gently rubbed her stomach with both hands. "But I think it will be nice taking care of babies again."

Claire smiled knowingly. "I'll babysit anytime you need me to."

Hope raised an eyebrow at her. "Thank you! I may just take you up on that!"

Just then, Theo arrived back at the table. "Oh. Hi, guys!" He said with a grin.

"Hi Theo! How are you?" Aiden asked him, shaking his hand.

"I'm good, thank you!" Theo said.

"Hello, Theo! Did you already eat?" Hope asked him.

Theo nodded. "I finished my dog, then had to go to the bathroom before the rides. I drank too much Mountain Dew!" He grinned. "It goes straight through you."

"I know all about that! With liquids in general I mean," Hope said with a nod.

Claire downed the rest of her hot dog and drank down the rest of her drink, then threw out her garbage in the nearby can. "Well, it was nice seeing you guys again. Theo and I are going to go get some cotton candy and ride the Ferris wheel."

"And the Scrambler! Don't forget The Scrambler!" Theo reminded her.

Claire grinned, and placed an arm around him. "Yes, the Scrambler too."

Hope smiled. "Have fun!"

"Bye!" Aiden said with a smile and a polite wave. "Have fun!"

Claire hugged her father tightly from behind. "I'll catch up with you after the fireworks."

"All right. Do you need money?" Shawn asked.

"I've got it. Thanks!" Claire then walked off with Theo.

"That's the first time I've ever seen her turn down money!" Hope said with a smirk.

Shawn smirked too. "I know right? But she gets paid pretty well for doing her You Tube videos. You'd be surprised."

"I'm glad things are finally working out for her Online, and in a legitimate way at that," Hope said. She took a bite of her cheese burger.

"Me too! Believe me. I'm going to go mingle. I'll catch up with you again later," Shawn said, standing up with his trash.

Hope nodded. "All right, Honey. Have fun."

Shawn hugged his mother. He then placed a hand over top of Aiden's shoulder. "Bye Aiden."

"Bye, Shawn. See you later," Aiden said.

Shawn then ditched his trash and left.

However, before Aiden and Hope had a moment to themselves, Carol came over and sat down next to them. "Hey, hey, hey! Happy 4th of July!" She smiled and winked at them.

"Happy Fourth of July!" Hope said with a smile.

Aiden nodded. "Happy Fourth of July, Big sister! How are you?"

"I'm all right. Thank you." Carol nodded at Hope. "How about _you_? I bet you're ready to pop, huh?" She grinned.

Hope nodded. "Just under two months yet! Ugh! I can at least be grateful that this will definitely be my last pregnancy!"

"Do you realize that the twins won't even be fifty yet when you die, even if you live to be a hundred?" Carol asked her. "They'll be Forty-four."

"Carol! Why would you say that?" Aiden asked.

Carol shrugged. "What? It's true! No disrespect meant." She nodded at Aiden. "They'll be fifty-one when _you_ die. Again, saying you live to be a hundred."

"Well that's morbid!" Hope smoothed her napkin over her lap. "At least they will have a parent for half their life, Lord willing." She smiled weakly. "I know it's not common for any woman to have a baby this late in life, but God blessed me with two anyway. It's got to mean they are destined for great things!" She smiled big.

Carol nodded. "I'm sure it does!" She smiled too.

"Anyway, you'll be dead sooner than I will," Aiden told Carol.

Carol nodded. "Saying you don't die prematurely!"

"Okay, you're being really morbid. You must be hanging around Andre too much," Andre muttered.

"I agree!" Hope said. She looked around. "Where is he anyway?"

Carol grinned, and nodded over a few yards away. "Tommy's back!"

Hope and Aiden both looked over towards Andre. Andre was holding little Thomas in the air, and Tommy as giggling like crazy as Andre pretended that Tommy was an airplane.

"Uh oh!" Andre said loudly. "Turbulence! Turbulence!" He began to gently shake Tommy from side to side, and Thomas' loud laugher was echoing throughout the square.

Andre grinned. "Look! There's Daddy and Mommy! They got you the cotton candy you wanted!"

He set Thomas down in his stroller, then Chad gave Thomas a huge piece of cotton candy.

Andre pretended he was going to eat it.

"No, Uncle Andre! Mine!" Tommy said.

"Aw come on! Can't Uncle Andre just have one little bite? Please?" Andre asked.

"Mm… Okay!" Thomas broke him off a little chunk of the blue sugary candy.

"Thank you!" Andre ate his fluff in one bite. "Mm! Delicious! But not as delicious as you!" He then kissed Thomas' cheek all over, causing Thomas to giggle again. "Uncle Andre stop that! That tickles!"

Andre stopped, but not before giving Thomas one more loud kiss on the cheek.

"I never thought I'd see the day," Hope said in amazement. "Andre Dimera is actually showing kindness and compassion."

"Amazing!" Aiden said.

Carol grinned at them. "See? I'm not stupid. I didn't take him back for nothing. I knew he had it in him to change!"

Hope and Aiden both looked at each other. Neither one of them would go that far, to think that Andre had changed, but if it made Carol happy, they were both willing to keep their mouths shut…for now anyway.

 _ **~*came back to me*~**_

It was getting dark now, and just about time for the fireworks display in the park. Thomas was getting tired and fussy, so Andre, who didn't care about fireworks, took Thomas home so that Chad and Abigail could enjoy the fireworks. Carol was wanted to stay to see the fireworks, so Chad had offered to give her a ride home after.

Most people were camped out on blankets, or on benches. Carol looked around. She didn't want to impose on Chad or Abigail. She figured they might want some time alone to watch the fireworks. It was the same for Aiden and Hope. She thought about watching them with Shawn, but as she was looking for Shawn, her eyes fell upon Casey. He was sitting all by himself on a park bench.

Carol walked over to him and sat down. "Is this seat taken?"

"It's a little late to ask," Casey quipped.

"Casey, I'm so sorry for what I said to you! I know you were just trying to look out for me, and you have every right to be angry that I forgave Andre for what he did to you. I love Andre though. I know what he did was beyond crappy, but I really believe he's changed."

"I hope you two are very happy together then," Casey said simply.

"Casey, look at me. Please," Carol begged.

Casey looked at her.

"I may be back with Andre, but it doesn't mean I want to lose you as my friend. Please don't stop being my friend just because I'm back with Andre, and just because I acted like a bitch and said some stupid and thoughtless things to you that I didn't mean!" She took his hands in hers. "I feel comfortable with you. I can talk to you about things I can't talk to Andre about. I know it sounds silly since you and I didn't meet all that long ago, but I already consider you my best friend. I'm lost without you. And I love Jake. I always wanted a dog, but I never trusted myself to be responsible enough to own one on my own."

Casey smiled at her. "Well, loving my dog is pleading a good case…"

"Pleading my _case_ to Casey?" Carol joked.

Casey laughed. "You're so corny!"

Carol grinned big; relieved that the ice was broken.

Casey then placed an arm around her. "I consider you my best friend too."

Carol's eyes lit up. "Really?"

Casey nodded. "Well, you and Jake."

Carol grinned. "I can live with that! You should have brought him. I'm sure he would have loved a hot dog or a cheese burger!"

Casey nodded. "I thought about it, but then I would have had to leave before the fireworks. The poor thing is terrified of them!"

Carol laughed. "Aw, poor thing! Do they make doggy ear plugs?"

"I don't know, but it seems like something I should check in to," Casey said.

They both laughed.

Carol then rested her head on Casey's shoulder. "I'm glad to have you as my best friend again, Casey. I really missed you."

Casey side hugged her tightly. "Me too. I missed you too."

The fireworks began then, and they contently watched the fireworks together, both so happy to be best friends again.

 _ **~*came back to me*~**_

"They're so beautiful," Hope said as she and Aiden watched the fireworks. They laid on a blanket on their backs as they watched the fireworks.

"Not as beautiful as you," Aiden said, turning his head to look at her.

She turned toward him and they kissed. "You always say the sweetest things."

"They're all true." Aiden gently stroked her cheek. "You take my breath away, Hope."

"Oh, Aiden…" Hope's eyes lowered with love for him. She took his face between her hands and kissed him sweetly on the lips. "You take my breath away too," she murmured, nuzzling her nose against his cheek, her eyes closed in contentment.

They then lie on their backs again and continued watching the fireworks, their hands and fingers entwined.

The fireworks were solely in the red, white, and blue colors. It was a good five minute show, and the finale consisted of nonstop fireworks—one right after the other. The end of the finale consisted of fireworks that spelled out Happy 4th! Below the words was an American flag made of fireworks.

Everyone sat up and clapped when the finale was over.

"I think that was one of the best firework shows I've ever seen!" Aiden said.

Hope nodded. "Me too!"

Aiden helped her up, then he gathered up their blanket.

"Let's go see if Carol needs a ride home," Aiden said.

Hope nodded. "I also want to tell Shawn and Claire goodbye."

So they said their goodbyes to Shawn and Claire, and then Carol.

Carol hugged them. "Did you enjoy the show?" Carol asked them.

"Yes! It was spectacular!" Hope replied.

"I loved how they did the Happy 4th of July and the flag at the end. So cool!" Carol said.

"And how they stuck to the red, white, and blue theme," Aiden added.

Carol and Hope both agreed.

"So, do you need a ride home?" Aiden asked.

Carol shook her head. "Thanks, but Casey and I are going out for coffee, then he's going to take me home. He's waiting for me in the car. I just have to go tell Chad and Abigail that I don't need a ride after all. I better go do that now, in fact. I'll talk to you guys tomorrow!"

"All right. Have a good night!" Hope said, hugging her one more time.

"Thanks! You too!" Carol then hugged Aiden too.

"Bye, Big sister," Aiden said to her.

"Bye, Little brother." Carol kissed his cheek then took off.

Hope smiled as she and Aiden walked back to their car, arms around each other. "I'd actually like to see her with Casey instead of Andre."

Aiden nodded. "Me too. Hopefully she'll come to her senses eventually."

 _ **~*came back to me*~**_

"Aiden moaned as he and Hope lie in bed in the dark, kissing. "I hate not being able to make love to you," he murmured.

"I hate it to, believe me. But we'll be able to again soon enough. I promise." She kissed him some more.

"I'm so glad we were able to get through our problems, and that you now know I'd never cheat on you," Aiden said to her.

Hope gently stroked his cheek. "And Tiffany and I are kind of sort of friends now. I'm glad she was able to forgive me when I apologized," she said, referring to weeks ago when she had personally apologized to Tiffany and sent her a dozen roses in apology.

"Who would have thought you guys would be friends, right?" Aiden said with a grin. "Tiffany's a sweet girl. She's very forgiving and compassionate. It's part of why I hired her—I could tell she was. I don't want my employees or associates to be jerks. I want to run a friendly business."

"And that's one of the many things I love about you!" Hope said. She kissed hm passionately.

Aiden moaned, and they kissed a moment more.

"I wish she were gay. Then I could be a hundred percent at ease," Hope said.

Aiden smirked. "Sure, you'd be okay with _Tiffany_ being gay!"

Hope grinned, and playfully swatted him. "Shut up!" She rubbed her stomach. "I want some ice cream. Do we have any left?"

Aiden smirked. "You had a cheese burger, fries, ice cream, fried dough, and cotton candy at the celebration. How could you possibly still be hungry?"

"Hey—I'm eating for three now. Remember?" Hope asked him with a pout.

"I'm just teasing you. We have some rocky road left I believe," Aiden replied.

"Perfect!" Hope said.

"I'll go get some for you," Aiden told her.

"No, it's all right. I have to get up to go to the bathroom again anyway." Hope kissed him. "Do you want any?"

"I'm good, thanks. Hurry back," Aiden said to her.

"I will." She kissed him once more, then headed out of the room.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

Hope had gone to the bathroom, and was about to go into the kitchen, when there was an insistent knock at the door.

She looked at her watch. It was almost eleven o'clock. Wondering who could be at their door so late, she headed over and peered out. She gasped when she saw who it was. Her heart practically jumped to her throat.

"Aiden!" she called out; part scared, and part in shock. She opened the door, and in tumbled Chase. He was bruised and battered in the face, and he looked like he could barely walk. He looked rugged, and frankly, malnourished.

"Help me!" he cried out.

Hope was too frozen in shock to do anything but stare at him, her mouth opened wide.

Just then, Aiden came down the stairs. "Hope, did you call m—" His eyes fell upon Chase.

"Dad!" Chase had tears in his eyes. "I thought I'd never get back to you…" was all Chase could say before collapsing to the ground.

Aiden stared at Chase for a couple seconds more, then suddenly feeling weak, he fainted, and thumped to the floor as well as Hope continued to stare in shock.


	51. S3E1

_**This Love…**_

 _ **S3E1: Fear of Falling Under**_

Aiden jumped out of his chair as soon as Kayla entered the waiting room. He had wanted to go in with her when she examined Chase, but Kayla had insisted that he stay back. "Is he going to be okay?" They had taken Chase to the hospital once Hope was able to wake Aiden, who had fainted upon seeing that his supposedly dead son actually alive.

Hope took his hand. "Sit back down. I don't want you fainting again," she said gently.

He looked at her as if he were going to protest, but then sat back down next to her instead.

Kayla sat across from them and spoke softly. "He is going to be fine. He has several bruises all over his body, and he is a little malnourished from not having had a decent meal in days. I'm starting him on a nutritional supplement and I'm going to make sure to get him fed and back on a healthy schedule of eating. I'm going to admit him for a few days just so we can get him back on track. "

"Did he say where he was all this time? Whose body it was that I saw?" Aiden asked.

Kayla shook her head. "He doesn't want to talk to me. I don't blame him. He doesn't know me every well. But he did give me permission to talk to you about his condition."

"Can I please see him?" Aiden asked. "And please don't say he's resting. I spent the last year and two months thinking my son was dead. Now that I found out he's alive… I can't wait any longer to see him. I need to see him now. Please, Kayla."

Kayla hesitated, but then her expression relaxed. "All right. But just for a half hour while he eats! He needs his sleep."

"Thank you!" Aiden said, getting out of his chair. He turned to Hope. "Will you come with me?" He held out his hand to her.

Hope raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure you don't want some father-son time alone?"

Aiden shook his head. "I need you for moral support. Please."

Aiden's eyes were so pleading that Hope couldn't say no. She took his hand and let him help her up.

"Thank you," Aiden said, slowly leading her to Chase's room.

"Hey, Son!" Aiden said as he walked into the room, holding Hope's hand, a huge smile on his face.

Chase smiled weakly. "It's good to see you two back together. Dad, I know how much you love Hope." His stomach growled.

Aiden nodded. He then looked at Hope and smiled. "That I do!" His eyes were filled with love for her.

"And I love your father." Hope kissed Aiden's hand, then smiled awkwardly at Chase. "Kayla's having some food brought in for you."

"I hope it's not peanut butter and jelly. I've had enough of that to last me a lifetime," Chase quipped. He then nodded at Hope's vastly swollen belly. "You're pregnant?"

Hope nodded.

"With twins! You're going to be a big brother to a new baby sister and brother!" Aiden told him excitedly.

Hope looked down at her stomach and smiled as she gently rubbed it.

Chase's expression was unreadable. "Congratulations I guess."

Just then, Maxine came in with a covered food tray. She set it on top of the portable table, and rolled the table next to Chase's bed.

"What is it?" Chase asked.

"Why don't you open it and see?" Maxine asked. Her tone was light and her smile was forced, but she was civil. Hope knew that she more than likely still harbored hard feelings toward Chase about him having raped Ciara. Heck, Hope didn't blame her, for she obviously did too. It was only for Aiden's sake, and because of the circumstances, that she herself was being civil to the boy who had raped her daughter.

Chase took the lid off, and his eyes lit up at the sight of a double cheese burger, and a huge helping of fries on his plate. He also had a can of Pepsi. "It's been so long since I have had a cheese burger and fries, let alone a double cheese burger and fries!" He dug right in. "Mm… _So_ good!"

"Dr. Brady decided to let you have this for tonight since it's been so long since you've been able to have anything good to eat. But tomorrow starts the healthier meals. We need to get your nutrition back," Maxine warned him.

He was too busy eating to care.

Maxine nodded politely at Aiden. "Congratulations on the return of your son."

Aiden nodded at her; grateful. "Thank you, Maxine."

"Hope, it's always good to see you," Maxine said. "Are you keeping those babies healthy?"

Hope smiled. "I'm trying my best!"

"Good to hear," Maxine said before leaving them so that they could talk to Chase in private alone. She shut the door behind her.

"Chase, do you mind telling us what happened? I saw your dead body after you died in the car crash. I mean, I know now that it obviously it wasn't you, but do you know who it was?" Aiden asked once she was gone.

Chase paused from his eating, his face having fallen a bit. "Can I please eat first?" It wasn't a rude tone. It was the kind of tone that reminded Hope of the ten-year-old little boy Chase had been when she first met him. For a moment, she actually felt sympathy toward him. "Sure," she replied for Aiden.

Aiden looked at her, and then at Chase. "What she said. Take all the time that you need."

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

When Chase finished his dessert (a slice of chocolate cake), he set his tray aside without saying anything for a moment.

Aiden was starting to think that Chase wasn't ready to talk about it yet. However, just as he was about to tell Chase that they didn't need to talk right then if he didn't want to, Chase spoke. "The one that died wasn't me obviously."

"Who was it?" Hope asked, genuinely sounding curious.

Clyde is in prison, but that doesn't mean he didn't have someone to do his dirty work on the outside." Chase looked at Aiden. "He still wanted revenge on you, Dad. Through outside connections, Clyde found a guy my age named Adam that looked a lot like me. He was a street thug who apparently didn't have much money. He lived in a dinky little trailer with his big sister from what I heard. So, Clyde's surgeon connection took him and made him out to look not only a lot like me, but exactly like me. He got the idea from Andre having made a doppelganger of you to do his dirty work. He had Jeremiah offer Adam five-hundred grand to first torture you by acting rebellious, and then kill you. He knew it would kill you emotionally as well to think that you failed me as a father so much that I hated you and wanted to kill you."

Chase paused to take a drink of his soda. "As soon as I was out of the institution, Clyde told Jeremiah to take action. That night at the concert, I was outside on my own smoking a cigarette by the stage doors in hopes that I'd see Tom, Mark, or Travis."

"You smoke? Since when?" Aiden asked.

Chase rolled his eyes. "It wasn't a real cigarette. It was an electric cigarette. I never used nicotine in mine. Anyway, I heard someone coming up behind me, but I just assumed it was either one of my friends deciding to wait with me after all, another smoker, or another fan eager to see the guys. Suddenly, I was hit hard from behind and knocked out cold. That was when the switch was done. The car accident and Adam dying obviously wasn't meant to happen. It was just bad luck. Clyde apparently gave up after that, thinking that you believing I was dead was just as good of a punishment."

"So they decided to keep you and torture you?" Aiden asked.

Chase shook his head. "Jeremiah had a son my age named Trevin, who was _really_ sheltered. He wasn't allowed out unless it was with Jeremiah, and he was incredibly lonely for a friend. So, Jeremiah decided to keep me as Trevin's friend. Of course, unbeknownst to me, that meant they had to drug me. Their surgeon friend initially injected me with the drug since obviously I wouldn't willingly take it. But later, after it had affected me, they continued to give me the drug in pill form. The drug made me forget everything up until after the switch. The drug made me very susceptible to believing whatever they decided to tell me. Jeremiah and Trevin told me that I was abandoned by my real parents, and that my parents had left me on the streets to fend for myself. Jeremiah said that he had found me out there almost dead, and had brought me to the hospital. He told me that, for the past five years after that, they had taken care of me and become my new family. In reality, I had only been there a couple of days."

"And you believed all of it?" Aiden asked.

Chase nodded. "That was the effect of the drug. I don't even know what it was called, but it was strong. So, thinking they were my family, I trusted them. I kept taking the pills. They told me they were to prevent seizures; that I'd get horrible seizures if I didn't take the medication. Of course, I believed that too." Chase shook his head. "Jeremiah treated me just like his son. We had to work in this stuffy room with florescent lights harvesting marijuana. Jeremiah and Trevin claimed it was medical marijuana, but looking back, I doubt they used it for medical purposes. They sold it."

"We're they good to you?" Aiden asked; tearing up at the thought of this being done to his son because of him.

Chase shrugged. "Sometimes yes, but mostly no." His expression grew serious. Jeremiah would beat us both. Sometimes it got so bad we couldn't even get out of bed the next morning. One time, Trevin and I were taking a break and we were tossing a baseball outside; playing catch. I guess I threw it too far because Trevin missed it. Instead, it hit a window and broke it. Unfortunately, Jeremiah came home right at that time and knew it was us. There was no time for us to come up with a lie about how the window got broken. Jeremiah grabbed us both by the hair and tossed us down onto the ground. He then when at it; pummeling us both. Trevin just laid there and took it. I tried to fight back, but Jeremiah broke a shard off the already broken window and cut my arm with it. I was in shock."

"That's terrible!" Hope said, covering her mouth. "Didn't you call the police?"

Chase shrugged. "I couldn't! Neither Travis nor I were allowed cell phones. The house had no landline phone, and it was out in the middle of nowhere with nothing else around for a good mile. They didn't even have a computer. Trevin once told me it was so that he could never be somewhere that Jeremiah didn't know he was. It was basically to keep him (and me) a prisoner in his/our own home with no way to contact anyone. Not that we could go anywhere anyway. We were never given any money or even a car. Jeremiah was the only one with a car and he never let us use it without him. He always went out with us wherever we went, and paid for what we needed as we needed it. Again, not that we went out often. He only took Trevin and me out to dinner twice a week , and to a movie once ea month."

Aiden buried his face in his hands. "I'm going to kill him."

Chase continued. "Of course Jeremiah always had me apologizing even though I was the one who got hurt. He would always make me feel guilty for, as he put it, 'making him hurt me.' Travis never fought back because he said it got worse if he fought back. After the cutting my arm incident, I quickly learned to also not fight back, because apparently, the rule stood for me too. Jeremiah's doctor friend made house calls, lucky for Trevin and me. He also never asked questions—lucky for Jeremiah."

"So, how did you escape?" Hope asked, cop-mode taking over.

"One day when Jeremiah was out at work—probably pedaling his marijuana—I took the opportunity to leave. Trevin was sleeping. I hitchhiked until I finally got home," Chase explained. "Unfortunately, I didn't know that Dad had moved back to Salem. I hitchhiked for three days and three nights until I finally arrived in Portland at what I thought was still home. However, when I got there I didn't recognize the cars. I knocked on the door. When a stranger opened up, I asked if Aiden Jennings still lived there. The new owners told me no; that he had moved out of state. They didn't know where to. I didn't remember where Aunt Carol lived exactly, but I remembered where she worked. I walked there, and her boss told me that she went to visit her brother in Salem, but had left no forwarding address. So, I had to hitchhike thirty-one hours back to Salem after just having hitchhiked the thirty-two hours from Poplar Bluff to Portland. And to think it could have been only a three-hour hitchhike had I only known originally that Dad was back in Salem! Anyway, I went to your place since I figured Dad went back to Salem to be with you. If he didn't, I figured you might at least know where he was. I also knew you were a cop I could trust."

"I thought you said you didn't remember your father or your life before being taken," Hope said, an eyebrow raised.

Chase looked at her. "Well, while he was out, I had snooped in Jeremiah's room the day before. In his dresser drawer, hidden under some shirts, I found my wallet. It was stripped of everything but my driver's license and a photo of me and Dad at a baseball game. I remembered everything then."

Hope raised an eyebrow again. "And it all came back to you with just a driver's license and a photo of you and your dad? Usually it takes more than one occurrence—especially when still under the influence of a drug—to remember it all."

"Hope…" Aiden trailed off.

Chase blushed. "I had stopped taking the drug. I suspected that it wasn't good for me. The drug was out of my system by then."

Hope still wasn't buying it. "What made you suddenly suspect that the drug wasn't what they told you it was?"

"Hope, I can't explain it! All I know is that it all came back to me when I saw the picture and my license. Please, no more questions!" Chase rolled over on his side away from Hope, so that he was now facing Aiden. "I don't want to talk about it anymore."

Hope pat his legs over the blankets almost sarcastically. "We can talk later then." She got up and headed for the door. "Sleep well. I'll see you in the morning." She then took off out the door.

Aiden felt bad. "I'm sorry. Don't take it personally. It's the cop in her. She just wants answers; like I do."

"Well, I gave them, and now she's questioning me like I'm a liar or something! I told her what happened." Chase sat up straight. "I'm not lying, Dad!"

Aiden nodded. "I know you're not, Son. So, if you didn't have any money, how did you eat while you were busy hitchhiking? It had to take you a long time to do all that hitchhiking. You surely couldn't have gone that long without _some_ kind of food!"

"I packed ten peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and five bottles of water. It took me six days total to hitchhike. I ate twice a day and drank a bottle of water a day. Well, the fifth and sixth days I only had one sandwich and a half bottle of water per day. Hence why I now hate peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and why my I'm dehydrated. The bottles weren't that big," Chase explained.

"Why didn't you just ask to borrow someone's phone, or ask them to take you to the police station?" Aiden asked.

Chase looked him in the eyes. "I was worried the cops were either working for Clyde and or Jeremiah, or that they were friends with them. I didn't want to risk it even when I was in different states. I didn't know how far their reach was. As for calling you, I knew you thought I was dead. Calling you wouldn't have been the best way to tell you I wasn't."

Aiden nodded. "I understand. Then, carefully, he asked what had been on his mind. "How did you know what Clyde and Jeremiah had planned with your doppelganger? They obviously didn't tell you about it if they were drugging you to make you forget being Chase."

Chase hesitated, and then stumbled for the words, but nothing but gibberish came out. "Dad, I'm tired. Please stop asking me questions." Chase sounded annoyed now. "You're as bad as Hope!" He angrily rolled over on his side; away from Aiden this time.

Aiden sighed. He then gently rubbed his son's back. "I'm sorry. I'm just trying to put all the pieces together." He stroked his son's hair. "You might want to brush your teeth before bed. You just ate. Not to mention they haven't been brushed in five or six days, right?" he joked, trying to lighten the mood, which had suddenly turned dark.

Chase didn't respond.

"Okay, I'll see you tomorrow then." Aiden turned to leave.

"Dad?" Chase asked when Aiden was in the doorway.

Aiden stopped and turned around, hoping Chase was going to tell him more. "Yes, Son?"

Chase didn't move from his position when he spoke. "Tell Hope to stop asking questions that are none of her business."

Aiden didn't know how to respond to that, so instead he just left, shutting the door behind him.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

Hope walked over to Aiden as soon as he reentered the waiting room. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have pushed. It's just the cop in me coming out."

Aiden gently rubbed her back. "I know. He's fragile now. He just needs time."

Hope raised an eyebrow at him. "So you think he's hiding something too?"

Aiden paused before nodding. "Yes," he reluctantly admitted. "But we have to be patient with him. He just went through a harrowing ordeal. It could be a while before he talks to us. But in the meantime, we need to do something about Jeremiah."

Hope nodded. "I already put an APB out on him and I also have someone talking with Clyde right now." She frowned. "Not that I expect them to get anything out of him. Even so, hopefully they catch that son of a bitch soon so that he can't harm anyone else ever again!"

Aiden felt his heart melt. "It feels good that you feel that way—considering it was Chase he abused."

"Trevin was abused as well." Hope reminded him.

Aiden's face fell a bit.

Hope sighed. She then put a hand over his shoulder. "I am still upset about what Chase did to Ciara. A part of me always will be. But no one deserves to be treated the way Chase was. Not even Chase."

Aiden relaxed a little. He still wasn't comfortable with the lack of love Hope seemed to have for Chase, but at the same time, he understood.

He put an arm around Hope. "Let's go to the police station. I want to make sure they are doing everything in their power to find Jeremiah. If they don't, I'll hunt him down and kill him myself!"

Hope grabbed his arm. " Aiden, look at me!"

Aiden looked her in the eyes.

Hope's expression was serious. " You leave this to the police. I understand your anger, but I am _not_ going to lose my boyfriend slash the father of my children because he decided to get revenge for his son. The babies and I need you way too much for you to do something that will land you in prison. Heck, Chase needs you too. Trust me, you'll do him more good out of prison than in prison. Got it?"

Aiden sighed. "Fine. Let's just go home then. But they better catch him! That son of a bitch doesn't deserve to be free."

"Trust me. They'll find him. I promise," Hope assured him. She squeezed him tightly as they headed out of the hospital. She just hoped she could keep that promise.

 _ **~*came back to me*~**_

Chase woke in a cold sweat. Even though he had finally escaped from Jeremiah and Trevin's physically, he still hadn't mentally. The nightmares had started the night… The nightmares had started the night that everything had gone to hell for him—the night hell got even hotter for him.

He had hoped he'd be able to leave the nightmares behind with Jeremiah and Trevin, but the nightmares were one thing he couldn't seem to escape from, and he didn't know if he'd ever be able to. In fact, he feared that things were only going to get worse from here. Kayla had big talks of his recovery, but the truth was, this was something he didn't think he'd _ever_ be able to recover from, and there was nothing that Kayla, or anyone else for that matter, could do about it.


	52. S3E2

_**This Love…**_

 _ **Season 3 Episode 2: Who Would Have Thought?**_

"Why didn't you call me last night?" Carol asked. Her nephew was alive? It was something like out of a soap opera! She grabbed her purse with the hand that wasn't holding her phone.

"I'm sorry. I know I should have, but I was still in shock. Plus, I was too preoccupied with making sure he was okay, and in finding out what happened to him," Aiden explained. "Also, it was really early. I didn't want to wake you."

"Well my nephew not being dead is certainly something I wouldn't have gotten angry with you for waking up over." Carol sighed. "What room is he in? I'm on my way."

"Room two twenty five," Aiden replied.

"So what happened to him anyway?" Carol asked.

"I'll explain when you get here."

"I'll be there in a jiff." Carol hung up the phone.

"Who was that?"

Carol turned around at the sound of Andre's voice. "That was my brother. It turns out, my nephew isn't dead after all. He showed up on their doorstep last night, badly bruised and very malnourished and dehydrated." Carol shook her head. "Gosh, it sounds crazy to say it out loud."

"Who was it that died then?" Andre asked, his curiosity piqued.

Carol shrugged. "I don't know. Aiden says he'll explain it all when I get there."

"What? You're going now? I was hoping you'd come with me for a picnic along the lake. It's such a nice day, and I had the chef prepare your favorite." Andre took her hand.

Carol looked at him in surprise. "Andre, I just found out my nephew is alive. I want to go see him."

Andre rolled his eyes. "There will be plenty of time for that later. After all, you thought Chase was dead for over a year. What difference is a few hours more before seeing him gonna make?"

Carol shot him a look. "I cannot believe you just said that."

Andre shrugged. "I'm just stating facts."

"You're a real piece of work. You know that?" Carol tried to leave, but Andre grabbed her arm. "I'm sorry. You're right. Go see your nephew. And please, send him my regards."

Carol raised an eyebrow at him. "You know, you _could_ come with me. I could use the support. It will be kind of surreal seeing someone you thought was dead now alive."

Andre shook his head. "I don't want good food to go to waste. I'm going to go eat lunch by the lake with Thomas. Besides, I don't think Aiden or Hope would be very thrilled to see me."

Carol shrugged. "Suit yourself. I'll see you later." She then took off without looking back. As much as she loved Andre, she sure wished she had a boyfriend that was more caring and sensitive to her needs. But that wasn't who Andre was, and she knew it.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

Hope got off the phone and turned to Aiden. "That news isn't good."

"Let me guess—the police found their home, but Jeremiah and his son skipped town before they got there?" Aiden asked; annoyed.

Hope nodded. She then placed a hand over his shoulder and looked him in the eyes. "But don't worry. We're going to find them. I promise you. Police are looking for him not only all over Poplar Bluff, but all around the surrounding towns, cities, and states as well. We're going to get them."

"I hope so." Aiden teared up. "I just can't believe what my son went through because of me. And what kind of father was I to not know that the boy I was with all those months wasn't really my son? I'm a horrible father!"

Hope took him in her arms and gently stroked the back of his hair. "You're not a horrible father. You'd be surprised how many of us in Salem have been duped by a doppelganger. You can't beat yourself up over it."

Aiden looked her in the eyes and sniffled. "All I ever do is hurt the people I love! I got myself into a gambling debt mess and agreed to kill you and steal your children's inheritance. I blackmailed you into staying me with me. Now, because of me putting Clyde in jail, it got my son kidnapped and abused for over a year."

Hope nodded. "And I killed an old man in a wheelchair, dumped his body like trash, and framed another man for it. Even if it was Stefano I killed and Andre I framed, them not being good people still didn't make it right. We all make mistakes. Of course you and I both happen to do things that were beyond mistakes, but we chose to learn from our mistakes, and change. We had the desire to change and we did, so that means we aren't bad people. It just means we're human. We mess up. As for Clyde, you did the right thing. What happened to Chase is because of Clyde and Jeremiah. It's not your fault."

Aiden looked away. "I guess."

"Mr. Jennings, look at me." Hope moved his chin so that he was forced to look into his eyes. "You are one of the most loving and caring fathers that I know. You couldn't be a better father to Chase, and you are going to be the best father our twins could ever ask for." She brushed her lips against his cheek. "And you are now the best boyfriend _I_ could ask for. So stop beating yourself up over your past mistakes, all right?"

Aiden nodded. "Al l right," he said quietly. He gently stroked her hair. "I don't know what I ever did to deserve someone as wonderful and as beautiful as you."

Hope placed her hand over his cheek. "You make me deliriously happy. That's what." She then kissed him softly, yet lovingly and passionately.

Aiden pulled her closer, and deepened the kiss.

"Ew, you two. Get a room! Shouldn't you be with my nephew?" Carol asked, fresh out of the elevator. She smirked to show she was only teasing them. Then she turned serious. "So, what happened to him? Who was it that actually died?"

Aiden led her over to the waiting room, and they both sat down. Aiden then told her what Chase had told them.

Carol shook her head. "Something isn't adding up right. I'm no doctor, but I don't think he'd suddenly remember everything just like that."

Hope nodded. "That's what we think."

"He refuses to talk to us any further about it, so all we can do is wait until he's ready I guess," Aiden said sadly. "I hate this. I hate not knowing what is wrong with my son. I hate not being able to comfort him. He used to tell me everything. Now I know he's hiding something from me."

"Maybe he'd be more willing to talk to me. Where is he?" Carol asked, standing up. "Room Two-Twenty-Five you said?"

Aiden nodded. "Don't push too hard, Carol. I don't want to upset him.

"Relax! I'm not going to force anything out of him," Carol said without looking back.

Aiden looked at Hope. "Why don't I believe her?"

Hope gave him a sympathetic look, and shook her head as she gently rubbed his back.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

"Oh my goodness it's so good to see you alive!" Carol hugged Chase tightly in his hospital bed.

Chase looked at her in surprise. "Really? You never seemed to care about me before I supposedly died. Remember when we thought Dad died? I wanted to come and live with you, but you didn't want me."

Carol winced. "Oh that?" She laughed nervously. She then sighed. "Look, Kid, I'm sorry. Sometimes I can be a real crappy person. I don't deal with sadness too well. I didn't want to be reminded of the brother I lost. It was too much to bear. You would have been a constant reminder of him. Not to mention I was in a relationship. You know how I always used to get when it came to my men." She blushed, realizing how horrible she sounded. "Look, I was a bitch, and I had a lot of growing up to do even though I was already supposed to be a grown up." She smirked. "You know me. A part of me will _never_ grow up."

Chase couldn't help but smile. "It's one of the things I love best about you."

Carol smiled. "Aw!" She hugged him again. "I'm going to be a better auntie to you from now on. I promise!" She gently ruffled his hair. "Thinking I was going to die, and thinking you were dead, really opened my eyes up." She sat down in the chair next to his bed.

"You thought you were going to die? Why?" Chase asked; interested now.

"Well, I had really bad kidneys." She placed her hand on his shoulder. "Don't ever drink! Anyway, I wanted your father's kidney. As it turns out, Andre was able to find me a match that wasn't my brother since Aiden wasn't too happy about having to give up his. My donor's name is Casey, and he ended up being a perfect match! He's even become my best friend now." Carol smiled at the thought of him.

"Why did Andre care enough to get you a donor?" Chase asked.

Carol blushed. "I'm dating him."

"How did _that_ come to be?" Chase asked in surprise.

Carol sighed, and then gently pat his thigh. "That's a story for another time. Your dad told me what happened to you. I'm so sorry you had to go through all that!" She reached her hand out and squeezed his hand, then looked him in the eyes. "Is there anything you want to tell me about your kidnapping that you didn't feel comfortable telling your dad or Hope?"

Chase's face darkened. "As I told Hope and Dad, I said everything that happened. I don't want to talk about it anymore."

Carol could take a hint. "All right, that's cool." She got up and gave him one more hug. "I'm just glad to have you back! Can I get you anything?"

"Maybe you can sneak me a soda and fries in from McDonald's?" Chase asked. "Kayla has me on a health food diet. I hate it!"

Carol laughed, and gently rubbed his thighs over the blankets. "I'l l see what I can do." She smiled and winked at him. "I love you."

"I love you too," he said.

"I'l l go see about getting those for you!" She kissed his cheek.

"Thanks, Aunt Carol."

Carol then headed back into the waiting area.

Hope and Aiden both stood up.

"So, what did he say?" Aiden asked.

"Any luck?" Hope asked, an eyebrow raised.

Carol sighed. "I got nothing! He's a tough cookie to crack! But one thing's for sure—there's definitely more. He's hiding something."

Hope and Aiden looked at each other with concern.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

Two days had passed. They had ended up keeping Chase an extra night just to be safe. He was finally able to be released now, but first he needed a place to be released to.

Aiden entered his and Hope's bedroom as she was brushing her hair at her vanity. "Baby, I need to talk to you about something."

Hope set her brush down and turned to face him. "What is it, my Love?"

Aiden sat down at the end of their bed. "I know this is a lot to ask, and you're probably not going to like it…"

Hope sighed, and raised an eyebrow. "You want Chase to stay here, don't you?"

Aiden took her hands in his. "It's just that he has no other place to go. Carol is living with Andre now, and I don't want him living with Andre as an influence. So, aside from us, who else does he have to stay with? I realize I could get him his own place, but I really feel that after all he's been through, he shouldn't be alone."

Again, Hope raised an eyebrow. She pulled her hands away from Aiden's. "What about all Ciara has been through? What about what he did to her? Do you really expect me to share my house with the person who raped my daughter?"

Aiden watched his words closely. "Hope, I understand you not being thrilled with the idea. I get where you're coming from. I do. But Ciara doesn't live here anymore. Heck, she's all the way across the country! Chase has changed, just like you and I have. He's not that messed up kid he once was. He got the help he needed, and he deeply regrets what happened."

Hope laughed bitterly. "I should hope so!" She narrowed her eyes at Aiden. "What he did was despicable, Aiden! It's not something you can just forgive and forget."

"Neither is killing a man, yet you expect forgiveness! I mean, what happened to not being a bad person if you have the desire to change and change?" Aiden shot back. He instantly realized what he had said. "I'm sorry. That was uncalled for."

Hope looked away. "No, you're right." She looked at him. "It just feels different when it was my daughter that was attacked."

Aiden sighed. "Baby, I know I'm undeserving of you, and I of all people have no right to ask you for anything. But can you please do me this one little favor? At least until Chase can get back on his feet again? Just a couple of months, and then if you still hate it, I'll get him his own place."

Hope sighed. She then got up and walked over to him. She sat down on his lap and wrapped her arms around his neck. "You're not undeserving of me. We both made mistakes, and that is in the past. It's just a little harder for me to forgive Chase since it involves Ciara." She sighed. "But for your sake, and since Ciara doesn't live here, I'll give it a try."

"Thank you!" Aiden said, relief washing over his face. "I won't forget this!"

"You're lucky I love you so much," she said as she rested her forehead against his.

"And I love you more than words can express. So we can have him here? Are you sure?" Aiden asked.

Hope nodded. "If it will make you happy, and if you really feel that this is what Chase needs, then yes, he can stay here." She sighed. "It's going to be a full house here soon." She placed her hands over her belly and raised an eyebrow at him. "Are you sure you can handle it?"

"We can do anything as long as we're together, Baby!" he said with a grin.

Hope grinned too, and they kissed.

 _ **~*came back to me*~**_

"Casey, what are you doing here?" Carol asked with a surprise as she arrived at the hospital to find Casey already in the waiting area. It was now Chase's release date, and they were prepping to bring him home.

"Well, when you told me about your nephew being alive and all, and how Andre didn't ever care to come with you to the hospital to help pick him up, I figured that might make you a little lonely. I know you have your brother for support, but he's busy with his son and Hope. I wanted to be here for you in case you needed a friend. I know Chase being alive must be quite a shock for you. I can see you being happy, but shocked at the same time," Casey explained, wrapping an arm around her.

Carol hugged him tightly. "You just get me sometimes. I don't know how you do it, but you do."

Casey smirked. "Maybe it's because you have a part of me inside you." He blushed a bright shade of crimson. "I mean my kidney!" He quickly added as an afterthought.

Carol giggled. "I know what you meant!" She playfully pushed him. "And the last time I checked, kidneys didn't make you psychic." She winked and smiled at him, but she then placed her hand over his chest and gave it a quick pat. "It just means you're a really good friend."

He smiled back at her, and then they went to see if there was anything they could do to make Chase's transition from the hospital to Hope and Aiden's any easier.

 _ **~*came back to me*~**_

"So, here we are. I figured you could have your old room again. I didn't keep anything from when you last lived here. I wanted all memory of you out…" Hope felt awkward already. "But, as you can see, I did buy a new bed and bedding. There isn't much décor in here other than a dresser, but you can feel free to fill it with whatever you'd like."

"I was going to buy you some things, but I figured you might want to pick your own things out," Aiden said to him.

Chase didn't say much. He just sat on the bed. "Thanks."

"I know you said you didn't bring any clothes with you other than what you were wearing, and the couple outfits I bought you for your first couple days out of the hospital. We can go shopping tomorrow for more clothes," Aiden assured him.

"And if you don't want to go shopping with your dad, I can take you," Carol offered. "I'd like to think I know what's hip and trendy in both the female and male department."

"And I have the day off. I can even come along to help," Casey offered. He had met Chase at the hospital, who had given him a polite nod and vocal hello, but that had been it. Even so, Casey already seemed to care about him more than Andre did, Carol noticed.

"I guess so," Chase said. He didn't make eye contact with anyone, so it was unclear whom he was speaking to.

"Well, I promised Andre I'd be back for dinner. I'll call you tomorrow morning about that shopping trip, all right? Don't worry about the money. It's all on me," Carol said, gently stroking Chase's hair then kissing the top of his head.

Chase nodded, but again, didn't look at her. "Thank you."

"I guess I'm gonna go too then. See you tomorrow, Chase. It was nice meeting you," Casey said friendlily. He held out his hand to Chase.

Chase stared at his hand but didn't shake it. "See you," he said, not bothering to make eye contact.

Casey looked a little hurt, but only for a split second. "Ready to go?" he asked Carol with a smile.

Carol smiled back. "Yep!" She turned to Aiden and Hope. See you guys later." She hugged Aiden first, and then Hope.

They hugged her back and voiced their goodbyes. They both shook Casey's hand and exchanged goodbyes with him too. Aiden thanked him for coming.

"Won't be long now until I get to meet my little niece and nephew!" Carol said, placing her hands over Hope's stomach. "Are you getting excited?"

Hope grinned. "Nervous, but yes, excited as well!" She didn't know what had made her glance over at Chase, but she did. And she was shocked to see a scowl on his face. However, as soon as he noticed her watching him, he rubbed his nose as if he had felt a sneeze coming on. She relaxed, figuring that was all it had been; he had just felt as if he were going to sneeze.

Carol gave them one last general goodbye, as did Casey, then they left.

"So, Son, do you want to go out for dinner or order a pizza in?" Aiden asked.

Chase looked at him. "You guys can go out. I just want to stay home. I don't feel like going out in public yet. Maybe tomorrow."

"Well, we can just order pizza in then. You still like sausage and pepperoni, right?" Aiden asked him. "I know you're supposed to eat healthy, but pizza technically has all four food groups, meat, vegetables, bread, and dairy." He grinned.

"I do, but don't stay in on my account," Chase replied.

"Nonsense! We don't mind eating at home, do we, Hope?" Aiden asked, looking at her.

Hope smiled weakly. "Not at all. Would you like breadsticks too?"

Chase shrugged. "Whatever."

"We'll let you get settled in. I left you a little surprise in your top drawer," Aiden winked at him. "We'll call you when the pizza's here."

They then left.

"I got him an iPod and an ITunes gift card," Aiden told Hope as they headed downstairs to order the food.

Hope smiled weakly. "That's nice."

"Thank you, by the way," Aiden said once they were downstairs. He pulled her close into a hug. "I know this is a little awkward for you, but this is going to be _so_ good for Chase. I appreciate you giving him a chance. I love you so much!" Aiden kissed her, and then hugged her tighter.

Hope smiled, but her heart wasn't in it. Here she was, living with the boy who had raped her daughter, about to have a "family" dinner with him. How was she ever going to explain this to Ciara?


	53. S3E3

_**This Love...**_

 _ **Season 3 Episode 3: Waking the Monster**_

Chase lay in bed, staring up at the ceiling. It had been a couple weeks since he had moved into Hope and Aiden's place. He felt awkward. Even though Hope was civil to him, he could sense some tension with her. She hated him, and was only being nice to him for Aiden's sake. He knew that. As a result, even though he knew she had every right to hate him, he was starting to hate her as well. He didn't want to hate her. But he also didn't want to be hated by her. He was also holding some resentment toward his father. How could his own father think another boy was his son—no matter how much the boy looked and sounded like him? Another thing that bothered him was the fact that Hope was pregnant. He felt as if his father must not have missed him too much if he was already moving on with Hope and two new children.

Chase sighed. He didn't want to think that way. He really didn't. He wanted to love his new siblings to be, he really did. But it was hard to think of loving the two children, whom he felt like were his replacements.

 _ **~*came back to me*~**_

"Aiden, Honey, wake up. You're going to be late for work," Hope said as she gently shook her sleeping boyfriend beside her.

Aiden opened his eyes and looked over at the bedside clock. "I took the day off," he said before placing a hand behind her head and gently kissing her.

She smiled after the kiss. "Why? You couldn't bear to spend the day without me?" she teased.

He grinned. "That too. But mainly because I have a surprise for you."

She sat up in bed. "What kind of surprise?" She grinned, feeling like a kid. She loved surprises! Well, most surprises anyway…

"If I told you, it wouldn't be a surprise, now would it?" He kissed her cheek. "Why don't you get ready for the day. Dress nicely, but it doesn't have to be formal. Just don't wear sweats or anything like that. Though to me, you're beautiful no matter what you wear."

"I _was_. Now I'm just a fat, beached whale," Hope said, placing her hands on her stomach. "I don't even like to look at myself in the shower anymore." She got out of bed. "If it weren't for the fact that I care about personal hygiene, I wouldn't even shower at all so that I wouldn't have to look at myself naked."

Aiden embraced her from behind. "Baby, you're carrying out babies, and that my love, makes you the most beautiful woman in the world to me. Anyway, you could grow a beard and you'd _still_ be the most beautiful woman in the world to me."

Hope smiled as he kissed the side of her neck. "I highly doubt that."

"Well, inwardly at least," he corrected.

She smirked. "At least shower with me. You know I can't reach half my body anymore."

"Mm… With pleasure," he murmured.

Hope smiled brightly. He always did have a way of making her feel beautiful even when she felt her worst!

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

"Where are we?" Hope asked as Aiden helped her out of the car. "I don't recognize the area. Whose house is this?"

"It's our photographer for the day's place. Isn't his property beautiful?" Aiden asked. He had driven Hope a half hour to a secluded country house. The photographer was the best around, and his property was vast and beautiful. Most of his work was taken in his backyard, which very much resembled part of a park with its lush green (or red, orange, and yellow come the fall) trees and beautiful arrangement of flowers.

Hope raised an eyebrow. "Our photographer? For what?"

"He's our photographer for your pregnancy photos." Aiden took her hands in his and looked her in the eyes. "Baby, you keep telling me how huge and unbeautiful you feel. I thought of this as a way to show you how beautiful you really are to me. Baby, when I look at you, I don't see the huge whale that you see."

Hope had tears of happiness in her eyes.

"I see the most beautiful woman I've ever seen who gets more beautiful with every second that passes." He kissed her hand. "Right now, you're more beautiful than you've ever been before you me. You're carrying our babies and to me… Hope, you take my breath away."

Hope practically pounced on him and kissed him with all the passion she had in her. "Thank you." She gently stroked his cheek. "You have no idea how much this means to me. Gosh, I'm the luckiest woman on earth!"

Aiden squeezed her hands tightly. "And I'm the luckiest man on earth, Baby. Now let's go get those photos. I can hardly wait for you to see and feel how beautiful you are to me.  
They kissed once more, then Hope, happy tears still in her eyes, let Aiden lead her to the photographer's doorstep, where he knocked, then awaited the photographer's arrival.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

"Pack your bags! We're going to Italy!" Andre announced as he came into the bedroom he shared with Carol.

Carol looked at him quizzically. "Excuse me?"

Andre grinned. "Surprise! The Dimera jet is all fueled up and ready to go. All we need to do is pack and we can be on our way."

"Italy?" Carol was a little surprised.

Andre nodded. "You said the other day how we never do anything fun, and how you want to do something exciting like go to Venice or Rome. I figured we can take a week or two and jet off to any part of Italy—or the world for that matter—that you would like to see. I figured we can start with Rome and then move onto Venice. We can take it from there where we want to go next!"

Carol was touched. She really was. "Andre, that is _so_ sweet of you, but I can't."

"Why on earth not?" Andre asked, the big grin suddenly wiping off his face.

Carol raised an eyebrow. "Do you really need to ask? My nephew just came back. I don't want to leave him."

"Of for Pete's sake, not him again! Carol, he is back, and he is fine. He's Aiden's problem; not yours. Don't worry about him. I'm sure he can manage to get by a week or two without you. He has Hope too for that matter. Not that Hope is much of a prize, but he'll survive."

Carol narrowed her eyes at him. "Except, he's not fine, Andre. Chase went through a harrowing ordeal. He's hiding something and he won't tell us what it is."

Andre shrugged. "Well, then, there's nothing you can do about it, so there's no point in worrying over it."

Carol let out a cry of frustration. "You're impossible! You know that?"

Andre was annoyed now. "Are we going to Italy or not?"

"No! And if you keep this attitude up when it comes to the people that I love—yes, I'm also referring to Hope—then you can just forget about me going _anywhere_ with you—ever!" Carol stormed out of the room and downstairs. She slipped on her shoes and grabbed her purse, then took off, slamming the door behind her. She could not believe Andre! The nerve of him!

As she got into her car, she thought of seeing Chase, but then she decided to stop by Casey's place first. She could use the moral support that she obviously wasn't going to get from Andre.

 _ **~*came back to me*~**_

Aiden watched as the photographer photographed Hope. She was so beautiful his heart felt like it was going to burst.

She stood by the fence, smiling with a daffodil held under her nose. The sun hit her from behind, lighting up her face and illuminating her hair, which was slightly blowing in the gentle summer breeze. She had never looked more beautiful to Aiden than she had at that moment. She was barefoot, having taken her sandals off. She was just wearing a pretty pink blouse and a pair of blue jean shorts, but to him, she was as beautiful as if she had been wearing high-heels and a ball gown.

After a few shots, including one shot of her leaning against the fence and smiling a smile that made Aiden weak in the knees, the photographer wanted them both in the shot.

"Come over the photographer," he said, walking over to the more wooded area of his yard. "Sit by the tree with the tulips around it. I want the daddy in the picture too this time. Aiden, sit behind her."

They did as told. They sat in a grassy clearing with trees behind them and to their sides. The tree to their left had colorful tulips all along the base of the tree.

Hope sat Indian style with her hands in her lap, and Aiden sat behind her with his legs on each side of her, with one hand over her stomach, and one hand over her collarbone. They smiled at each other as the photographer snapped a few shots.

"All right, now stand in front of that tree with the tulips, facing each other with both hands on Hope's stomach—both your hands, Aiden, and yours, Hope. Both of you look down toward your twins and smile," the photographer instructed.

Hope and Aiden did just that.

A few more shots and the photo shoot was complete.

They went into the photographer's house, looked over the proofs, and picked out which ones they wanted, which included at least one of each pose. They had all come out beautifully.

"I have my equipment here, so if you want to go get lunch or something and come back in an hour, I'll have your prints all ready for you to pick up," the photographer told them.

"That would be excellent, thank you!" Aiden said. He had already paid for the package that came with each photo they had selected in an 8x10, 5x6, 4x6, and wallet size.

Thanks again. You do beautiful work. I didn't think it was possible for my girlfriend to look any more beautiful than she already is, but you managed to capture her looking the most beautiful I've ever seen her," Aiden said as he shook the photographer's hand.

Hope blushed.

"Well, it wasn't very hard. I had a really good subject to work with!" the photographer said with a grin at Hope.

Hope grinned as well, and blushed some more. "Thank you." She pushed some hair behind her ear.

"After saying their goodbyes, Aiden and Hope got back into Aiden's car.

"So, where do you want to eat for lunch?" he asked her.

"Mm, Pete's Pizza!" Hope looked at him. "If you don't mind. I know I've been craving pizza a lot lately." She blushed.

Aiden shook his head. "Whatever my baby and our babies want, my baby and babies get!"

Hope smiled. "Thank you again. This really meant a lot to me. Especially the things you said to the photographer. I wasn't feeling very beautiful, but today, you made me feel like the most beautiful woman on earth!"

Aiden reached over and gently stroked her cheek. "That's because you are, Baby."

They kissed, and then Aiden drove them to Pete's Pizza.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

Chase was annoyed. When they had called inviting him to pizza, he had told Hope and his father that he didn't want to join them. He planned on just eating some Ramen noodles at home, and enjoying having the house to himself. He still didn't like being around anyone. He didn't like that he could tell without anyone even having to say anything that they wanted to know more about what had happened. Why couldn't they just leave it alone? He was back. Wasn't that good enough? Why did they have to know what had happed? What difference did it make?

Why was he annoyed? He was annoyed because of course his dad had to call his aunt and tell her how worried about him he was, and of course he just _had_ to have her bring lunch over to him. Even freaking Casey had come along for a visit!

Chase sighed as he sat down on the couch, his turkey and cheese sub sandwich and cheddar cheese Sun-Chips from Subway setting in front of him on the table with a bottle of lemon-lime Gatorade beside it.

"Your dad told me what you like on your sub. I figured I'd get you a healthier lunch this time since technically, you're still supposed to be eating healthier," Carol explained.

"Thanks," Chase said. He knew she meant well, and he appreciate that she was at least trying. Still, he couldn't help but be all around annoyed that they were treating him like he needed a babysitter. "I'm going to go to the bathroom quick, and then we can watch the movie while we eat. Casey picked out _The Fast and the Furious_ —the original one. Did you ever see it?" Carol asked.

Chase nodded. "But I don't remember much about it. It was so long ago."

"Cool! I'll be back in a minute." Carol headed for the bathroom.

Casey set her sandwich, chips, and drink on the coffee table in front of the chair to the right of the couch, and then he sat down next to Chase on the couch with his own sandwich, chips, and drink set down in front of him. His arm accidentally brushed Chase's as he reached to unwrap his sandwich.

Chase quickly pulled his arm away. "Do you mind? He snapped. Why do you have to sit so close anyway? Can't you sit on the chair?" He nodded toward the chair on the left side of the couch.

Casey looked at him in shock. "Uh… Sure. Sorry." He pushed his food and drink over to the left side of the coffee table and took the chair instead.

Chase thought better of having just snapped. "I'm sorry," he grumbled without even looking at Casey. "I didn't mean to snap. I just don't like when people sit so close to me."

Casey shrugged. "It's cool. I hear ya! I like my space too. Kind of gives me that claustrophobic feeling when I don't have room to breathe."

Chase nodded. "Exactly."

Carol came back from her bathroom break then, totally oblivious to what had just happened. "So, is everybody ready for the movie?" she asked.

"Sure," Chase said, biting into his sandwich.

"You betcha!" Casey said.

Carol put the DVD in, and then they all sat and enjoyed both their lunch and the movie.

However, while Carol and Casey laughed and made comments here and there, Chase remained silent. In fact, he barely even paid attention to the movie. He just kept playing back all the horrible things that had happened to him when he was with Jeremiah and Trevin, including that fateful night that showed him what hell really was.

 _ **~*came back to me*~**_

Hope and Aiden arrived home just as the movie had ended. They were holding hands and looking at each other as if they were the only two people in the world. It made Chase sick, really.

"What's that you got in your hand?" Carol asked with a grin as she nodded toward the envelope in Aiden's hand.

Aiden and Hope smiled big at each other.

Hope then answered for Aiden. "As a surprise, he took me to a photographer for a pregnancy photo shoot. I wasn't feeling very beautiful, but he made me feel so beautiful with these pictures."

Carol grinned. "Aw! My brother always was the romantic one of the family. Let me see, let me see!" She took the envelope from Aiden's hand and took the photographs out. "Wow," she said as she looked them over. "Hope, you look stunning!" She looked up at her, an eyebrow rose. "Not that that's any surprise." She flipped to the ones of both Hope and Aiden together. "Aw! These are so cute!" She grinned at Aiden. "You _must_ have found a good photographer since he was able to make _you_ look good!"

Aiden made a face at her. "Haha…" he said sarcastically.

Casey looked over the photos and smiled. "Very beautiful!" he said to Hope.

Hope blushed and smiled. "Thank you." She gently rubbed her stomach with both hands.

"Wanna see?" Carol handed the photos over to Chase.

Chase looked over the photos. With each photo he looked at, the more his blood boiled. The ones of Aiden with Hope _really_ made his blood boil.

"So, Son, what do you think?" Aiden asked with a big smile.

Chase looked at him, his eyes cold. "I think these suck!" he said.

Aiden's smile quickly faded."You don't like them?"

Chase laughed bitterly. "Why would I like them when it shows how easily you replaced me?"

Aiden looked confused. "Chase, what do you mean? I didn't replace you! You're my son! I could never—"

Chase bolted upward off the couch, his eyes flashing with anger. "You thought I died, so what did you do? You went straight back to Salem and got back together with Hope, and then you just made another one with her. Except, another one turned out to be another _two_. Who cares about your dead son, right? You have the love of your life back, and now two new babies along the way with her! I'm no longer relevant!"

"Chase, it wasn't like that!" Aiden insisted, looking devastated.

"Chase, your father was very torn up about your death! He visited who he thought was you at the cemetery every single day! He was beside himself!" Hope insisted.

Chase snorted. "Well he sure seemed to get over it quickly enough!"

"Buddy, relax. He was never trying to replace you," Casey said gently, putting a reassuring hand over his arm.

Chase quickly pulled his arm away. "Don't touch me!" he snapped.

"Chase, he's just trying to help," Carol said softly.

"Yeah, well I didn't ask for his help! I didn't ask for anybody's help! What does _he_ know about anything anyway? He's known you guys for how long? A few months?" Chase asked angrily.

"I still can tell how much your dad cares. I can tell every time I see the way he looks at you," Casey said, gently placing a hand over Chase's back.

"I said don't touch me!" Chase yelled. He whipped around and punched Casey in the face.

Hope and Carol both cried out in horror.

"Chase! What the heck?" Aiden asked in surprise.

"Why did you do that?" Carol yelled at Chase.

Chase shot Casey a look to kill. "I told you not to touch me, and you didn't listen!" He then took the photos that he still had in his hand and began tearing them up one by one.

"Chase! You stop that right now!" Hope yelled.

"Fine! Have your precious pictures back then!" Chase threw the torn pieces of photos in her face.

Chase Michael Jennings, what the heck is wrong with you?" Aiden yelled.

Chase met his eyes, feeling nothing but hatred for his father now. "What's wrong with me? _You're_ what's wrong with me, _Dad_." He looked all around and pointed to Hope, Casey, and Carol, then finally to Aiden. "You're all what's wrong with me." With that, he ran up the stairs and down the hall, then, a moment later, the sound of his bedroom door slamming behind him could be heard.

"What the hell was that all about?" Carol asked, looking as stunned as everyone else looked.

 _ **~*came back to me*~**_

"Are you all right? Gosh, I'm so sorry he did that!" Carol said back at Casey's place as she gently pressed a cold pack against his swollen right eye.

Casey placed his hand over hers and gently moved it off his eye. "I'm fine. It's okay. The kid packs a good punch though!"

"I don't know what's gotten into him. Something seriously bad must have went down that he is keeping locked inside. I'm starting to think my brother should get him some professional help." Carol looked sad. "Maybe if I had just been there for him when he needed to begin with when we thought Aiden was dead, he wouldn't be like this now."

"It's not your fault. I'm betting it's that Jeremiah guy's fault. Something went down all right. But all we can do is give him time. He's not ready yet. It's not fair for us to push him," Casey said softly.

"Look at you. He just punched you, and you're still looking out for him. It's quite the contrast to Andre, who doesn't even think I should be bothered with Chase," Carol said. She bit her bottom lip.

Casey gently stroked her cheek. "He doesn't deserve you. If you were my girl, I'd treat you so much better!"

Carol looked him up at him from underneath her long lashes. "I somehow don't doubt that," she said quietly.

They stared into each other's eyes and for the first time, Carol started feeling a little twitch in her heart that was more than just platonic. She didn't know what she was thinking. Maybe she wasn't. But she slowly leaned in to kiss him, and was pleased when he leaned in to kiss her in return.

Softly, they kissed, and then their kisses turned more passionate. Soon, Carol found herself taking his hand and getting up off the couch.

He looked at her in surprise. "Are you sure?"

She nodded. "More sure than I've ever been about anything in my entire life!"

Casey nodded. "All right then. That works out well because, I've never been more sure about anything in my entire life either…well other than the fact that I had picked the right dog from the litter when I picked Jake." He grinned.

Carol laughed. "You're so cute!" She then pulled him into another kiss before leading him by the hand to his bedroom. She knew it was wrong since she was with Andre, but one thing she had learned a long time ago was it was more fun not to think too far into things. Have fun now; worry about the consequences later.

 _ **~*came back to me*~**_

"Chase, let us in. Now! What you did was totally unacceptable!" Aiden called through the other side of the door as he pounded on the locked door. "Un-lock this door this instant!"

"No! Go away!" Chase yelled. "I have nothing left to say to you!"

"This is ridiculous." Hope went into her room, and then came out a moment later with the key. "I've got the key. We're coming in!" She unlocked the door before Chase could protest.

They found Chase pouting on his bed. "You're invading my privacy!"

Hope glared at him. "This is my house, and if I want to go into any room of it, I will. Besides, you lost your privacy rights when you punched Casey and tore up my pictures!" She crossed her arms over her chest and raised an eyebrow. "Should I name more reasons?"

"You're never going to forgive me for raping Ciara, are you?" Chase asked her.

"That isn't what this is about and you know it!" Hope snapped.

"Isn't it, Hope?" Chase asked, mirroring her actions.

"Guys, just calm down. Chase, why did you punch Casey? He was just trying to help you!" Aiden asked, trying to stay calm.

Chase shrugged. "I told him not to touch me and he did. I don't like when people touch me."

"He was just trying to talk to you!" Hope snapped. "You can't just go punching people every time they make contact with you!"

"Just leave me alone!" Chase snapped.

"No! Hope snapped. "This is my house, and if you're going to act like a little thug, then I deserve to know why!" Hope yelled.

"I just told you the reason! I don't want people touching me!" Chase snapped. He got up off the bed and tried to leave, but Hope blocked the doorway.

"That's not good enough!" Hope snapped. "Why do you suddenly not like people touching you? It never seemed to bother you before!"

"Son, we all know something more went on when you were taken. There's more that you're not telling us," Aiden said gently. "You can tell us. Please… Let us know what it was so that we can help you."

Chase whipped around to face him. "I told you to leave it alone!"

"Well I can't! I'm your father, and if there is something that went on, then I need to know about it! Now tell me right now!" Aiden yelled, losing his patience. He didn't even recognize his son anymore!

"Or what, Dad? You'll abandon me for real?" Chase snapped.

Aiden didn't know what to say to that.

Chase tried to roughly push past Hope.

"Be careful! She's pregnant!" Aiden snapped, trying to stop Chase from ramming into Hope. He grabbed him from behind.

Chase screamed, and shook violently. "Get off me! Get off me!"

"Chase, what is _wrong_ with you? It's me, your father! What is going on? Why are you so freaked out whenever anyone touches you?" Aiden asked, instantly letting go.

Chase had tears in his eyes. "Because I was raped, all right?" He burst into tears, then covered his face and sank down to the floor. "Trevin raped me!" He then burst into tears.

Aiden and Hope looked at each other in both shock and horror. Then Aiden sat down on the bed, covered his own face in his hands, and began to sob with his son.


	54. S3E4

_**This Love…**_

 _ **S3E4: How to Build a Time Machine**_

"Chase, Hope said gently. "Tell us what happened. We're not here to judge you. This wasn't your fault. I need you to tell us exactly what happened so that we can catch Trevin and Jeremiah, and make them pay for what they did."

Chase looked up at her. His eyes were red and wet from crying, and his arms were wrapped tightly around his knees. "I bet you're thrilled this happened. Right?"

Hope scrunched her eyebrows together in confusion. "What? Why would I be thrilled that you got raped?"

"It's poetic justice. I raped your daughter, and now I got raped too." He sniffled. "It's karma."

Hope sat down on the end of the bed next to Aiden. "Chase, no matter how angry I am about what you did to my daughter, I don't think you deserved to be raped. Two wrongs don't make a right!"

Chase sniffled again.

Aiden grabbed a tissue from the nightstand and handed it to Chase.

"Thanks," Chase said. He wiped his eyes, and then blew his nose.

"Please, son. Tell us what happened. We need to know. There's no judgment here, except for Jeremiah and Trevin. I promise you," Aiden said to him.

Chase didn't say anything for the longest time. Then he looked at his father and Hope. "Can we talk downstairs? I don't want to talk about it in a bedroom."

"Of course!" Aiden said.

Hope nodded. "We can talk in the living room. Do you mind if I record our conversation?"

Chase looked at her in alarm. "Why?"

"So that it can be your statement. You can tell me now what happened on tape so that you won't have to go to the station. Unless you're not ready for it to be public, then I understand. But Chase, it really would help to get your statement so that we can make them pay for what they did to you. It doesn't have to go to the media. I'll personally see to it that it doesn't. I promise," Hope said softly.

Chase looked down to the floor. "I guess so."

"Thank you," Hope said in almost a whisper.

So, she grabbed her recorder from her room, and then they headed down stairs.

Chase took the chair to the right of the couch, and Hope and Aiden took the couch with Aiden closer to Chase.

"So, Aiden began. "Are you ready to talk?"

Chase sighed, then looked away; unable to make eye contact with him. "As ready as I'll ever be."

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

Carol lie in bed with her head on Casey's chest as he gently stroked her hair.

"Do you regret anything?" Casey asked her. "I won't be offended if you do. I know technically you're still with Andre."

Carol looked up at him. "I don't regret anything. Do you?"

Casey grinned at her and shook his head. "No Ma'am! I actually quite enjoyed it. And not only because of the physical aspect." He winked at her. "I think I'm falling in love with you."

Carol felt her heart pound. "I guess I should be going before Andre wonders where I am." She had wanted to tell Casey she loved him too, but this was beginning to feel a little too real for her. It scared her.

"Are you going to tell him it's over between you two?" Casey asked, sitting up in bed as Carol began to redress.

Carol looked at him. He looked so hopeful. "Yes, I will," she said, though she was inwardly dreading having to break the news to Andre. He wasn't going to be happy. Plus, deep down, she did still have feelings for him. Maybe even not that deep down. Sure he was unsympathetic, but that was just him. She had also seen the sweeter, softer side of Andre Dimera.

She finished dressing, then kissed Casey's cheek. "I'll call you later." She then rushed out of the bedroom. Then, after a quick pet to Jake's head, she left the apartment, and headed for the Dimera mansion, still feeling torn.

 _ **~*came back to me,*~**_

"The part about being taken at the concert was true. I can't add much more to it other than I found it weird my friends didn't want to wait by the stage door with me," Chase began.

Hope raised an eyebrow. "Do you think they were in on the kidnapping?"

Chase shook his head. "No. Some had to use the bathroom, and some wanted to wait in line for the merchandise. I just thought it was weird they cared more about those things than they did a chance to meet the band. I know they had nothing to do with it though."

Hope nodded. "So, when you woke up at the marijuana farm, what happened?"

Chase sighed. He then grabbed his knees again, suddenly getting a faraway look in his eyes as he looked off into the distance. He then tried to remain calm as he remembered the events of that first day at the farm.

 _Chase had tried screaming for his friends…for anybody. But no one heard his screams. He was injected from behind and passed out right then and there. When he woke up, he wasn't at the stage doors any longer. He was at the marijuana farm lying on a bed. "Where am I?" he asked, feeling groggy. "_ Who _am I?"_

 _Jeremiah and Trevin were both staring down at him like he was a newborn monkey at a zoo._

" _We don't know. I found you on the streets. You told me your parents abandoned you. You were homeless, so I decided to bring you home and let you live with us. I have an extra room in my house, and frankly, my son Trevin here could use the company, so I told you you could come stay with us," said the guy with longhair and a beard. "My name's Jeremiah. Last name's not important. My son here, as I just told you, is Trevin." He nodded toward a kid who looked around Chase's age, give or take a couple years. He was fairly decent looking with a good, strong build, shaggy chocolaty brown hair, and piercing green eyes. Both men were Caucasian_

" _Thank you. I don't remember any of this, but thank you," Chase said._

" _You were so excited to have a home, you. You turned to run toward the car and you didn't see the telephone poll. You hit it pretty hard. I had the doctor check you out. You had a big concussion and he said you have amnesia. You might never get your memories back," Jeremiah explained._

" _From the sounds of it, I'm better off not remembering," Chase grumbled._

 _Jeremiah nodded. "Exactly! Now of course room and board isn't going to be for free. Having another person in the house is going to cost me some money. So, you can make it up to me by helping me and Trevin with our medical marijuana growing. It's not hard. We can show you exactly what we need you to do. In return, I will take care of all your needs—food, medical, a roof over your head… And if you do well and behave well, then I'll even pay for extra things like clothes and movies. As a show of good will, I'll even give you the first few outfits—including underwear—right off the bat. We can go shopping tonight."_

" _Done! Just tell me what to do. I don't remember living on the streets, but anything's got to be better than living on the streets," Chase replied._

 _Jeremiah and Trevin looked at each other and grinned. They then looked back at Chase._

" _By the way, you have to take daily medication. You had a couple seizures earlier when you were passed out, so the doctor prescribed you something to control them," Jeremiah explained. "I'll take care of the cost of course."_

 _Chase nodded. "Thank you. I appreciate it."_

" _You need a name," Trevin piped in._

" _What would you like to be called, Son?" Jeremiah asked him._

 _Chase thought about it for a moment. "Johnny."_

 _Jeremiah nodded. "Johnny it is! I have a feeling you're going to get on just fine here."_

"I still don't understand how no one saw you being drugged and carted away," Hope said.

"It was probably because everyone else was at the real stage door. I had gotten an anonymous text telling me to go to the door on the opposite side; the door more toward the back. The door marked 'stage door' was supposedly a decoy stage door. No one else seemed to get the message," Chase explained.

"Son, didn't you find any of this strange? I mean, who did you think was texting you? You didn't find it odd at all—even after you realized no one else was there?" Aiden asked.

Chase shrugged. "I just figured a friend of a friend who knew we were going had gotten the goods and decided to tell me. I knew a lot of people through mutual friends. I was so eager to meet the band, I didn't question it."

"Please, continue when you're ready," Hope said quietly.

"I need a drink first. I also have to go to the bathroom," Chase replied.

Aiden stood up. "I'll go get you a soda while you're in the bathroom." He knew Chase preferred soda above anything else. After what his son had been through, he wasn't going to deny him one no matter how unhealthy it may be.

Chase nodded. "Thank you." He then headed to the bathroom as Aiden headed to the kitchen.

Hope turned off the tape recorder for the time being, then, with a sigh, leaned back on the couch. So far, his story seemed legit. She just prayed he would tell them everything this time, no matter how painful it might be for him to recall it. They needed to know what had happened so that they could find those scumbags and put them behind bars where they belonged.

 _ **~*came back to me*~**_

Carol arrived back at the mansion and set her keys on the lamp stand beside the door. "Andre? Are you home? We need to talk."

"Madam, Mr. Dimera wants you to meet him by the lake. He told me to have you go to the lake as soon as you arrive home," Harold the butler greeted her.

Carol sighed. "All right. Thanks." She then left the mansion and walked the ten minute walk to the lake. When she got there, her mouth dropped open. The lake had been transformed to look like she was in Venice. There was a table set up with fairy lights draped over the trees. Setting between two trees was a table set for two with a posh looking red and white tablecloth draped over it. A candle was lit in the middle. There was Italian music playing, and on the lake was a gondola complete with a gondolier dressed in full gondolier attire.

Andre appeared out of nowhere, looking quite dapper in a tux. "Ciao, Bella!" Andre took her hand and kissed it. "I'm so sorry about our little disagreement earlier. To make it up to you, since you can't go to Italy, I decided to bring Italy to you!" Andre led her over to one of the chairs and pulled her chair out for her. "I hope you're in the mood for pasta! I had the chef make spaghetti with the best meat sauce you'll ever taste! It has actual meat in it. It's not that 'flavored with meat' garbage they sell in stores. It was my father's favorite recipe. I also have meatballs, an antipasto salad with Italian dressing, garlic bread, and minestrone soup. For dessert, I couldn't decide between the Tiramisu and the panna cottas, so I had the chef make both." He sat down across from her.

An eloquently dressed waiter served their salads and soups first.

"Everything looks delicious so far," Carol commented. She was starting to feel guiltier by the second as Andre poured the red wine and smiled brightly at her. Oh how she loved his smile!

"I'm sorry about earlier, my darling Carol. You were a hundred percent right, and I was a hundred percent wrong. If little Thomas was in the same situation that Chase is in, I'd be beside myself. It's just hard for me to show my feelings sometimes. Before you came along, love was a new concept to me. Sure, I had Kate, but that wasn't the same as it is with you. I think I've fallen harder for you than I've ever fallen for anybody in my life. This whole having to care and be a good boyfriend thing is new to me, but I'm willing to try harder for both your sake and mine. I know this sounds cheesy and clichéd, but you really do make me want to be a better person. Who knows? Maybe I'll actually have friends if I act nicer." Andre held out his glass to hers. "Forgive me?"

Carol smiled weakly. How could she say no at this point? "Of course!"

"To us and a brand new start!" Andre said.

"To us and a brand new start," Carol agreed.

They clinked their glasses, and drank up, Carol suddenly feeling like she had rocks at the bottom of her stomach.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

Chase came back from the bathroom and sat back down in his chair. "Thank you," he said as he took the offered soda glass from his father.

He sipped his soda and for a moment didn't say anything. Then, he set the glass down and hugged his knees again. "Things started off all right. They were actually both very nice to me at first. I guess it was to gain my trust. I worked in the green house and in the fields. I was actually pretty good at growing the stuff. Things didn't start getting bad until I'd been there a while. The baseball through the window and Jeremiah cutting me was the first time he had ever hurt me to that degree. Sadly, it wasn't the last time."

 _Chase was in the fields with Trevin when Jeremiah called them in for dinner._

 _They sat at the table, and Jeremiah slammed a huge plate of fish down in the middle of the table._

" _One of my buyers is a fisherman and offered me all this fish in return for some weed. Normally, as I always tell you guys, I have a rule never to take anything but cash for the merchandise. However, since it saved me the time from having to pick up dinner, I decided what the hell? Why not?" Jeremiah explained. "I fried it all, so there's plenty for seconds and thirds."_

" _Yes! I love fish!" Trevin said, sitting down at the table._

 _Chase put one of the fried fish onto his plate. He then cut into it and took a bite. He then made a face._

 _Jeremiah nodded at him. "What's_ your _problem?" he grunted._

" _I guess I don't like fish." Chase said with a shrug._

" _Well, you already have one on your plate, and it's not going to go to waste." Jeremiah nodded toward his plate. "Eat up!"_

 _Chase, picked at it_

" _I said eat, Boy! Now!" Jeremiah snapped._

" _Dad, I don't care if he touched it. I'll just eat it." Trevin reached for the fish on Chase's plate._

 _Jeremiah quickly reached out and placed his hand over Trevin's. "I told Chase to eat it."_

" _But Dad, he doesn't like—"_

 _Jeremiah cut him off. "If he's hungry, he'll eat it."_

 _Chase sighed. "It's okay. I'll eat it," he said to Trevin. It took all he had in him, mainly trying his best to turn his sense of taste off, but he finally got it all down._

" _Now eat another. There's a lot here." Jeremiah nodded toward the big plate of fish._

" _I don't want another one," Chase said._

 _Jeremiah looked him in the eyes. "Well that's too bad now, isn't it? I'm not letting all this good food go to waste. Eat it!"_

" _Well maybe you shouldn't have made so much at a time. You could have frozen some, you know," Chase quipped._

 _Jeremiah looked at him as if he wanted to kill him._

 _Chase instantly regretted saying anything._

" _Are you back talking me, Boy?" Jeremiah asked, his eyes flashing with anger._

 _Chase blushed. "N-No. I just meant…"_

" _Oh, I know exactly what you meant!" Jeremiah slammed his fork down into a piece of fish on the main plate, and placed it on Chase's plate. "Eat it!"_

 _Chase knew better than to argue after the window incident. He ate the fish._

" _Eat another one." Jeremiah placed another fish on Chase's plate._

" _I'm getting kind of full now," Chase said gently. "I can just put it in the fridge and have it for tomorrow's lunch."_

" _Eat it now!" Jeremiah snapped._

 _With a shaky hand, Chase picked up his fork and ate it._

 _Jeremiah slammed another fish down. "Eat it!"_

" _Please don't make me. I feel like I'm going to puke!" Chase said._

" _Well maybe you should have thought about that before complaining and back talking. Do you know how many homeless people out there would kill for food like this?" Jeremiah asked._

" _You could give it to one of them," Chase suggested. He honestly didn't say it to be smart. He actually felt feeding the homeless on the streets would be a good idea._

 _Unfortunately, Jeremiah didn't take it that way. "That's_ it _!" He took out his gun from his leg holster and aimed it at Chase's head. He cocked the gun. "Eat another one—_ now _."_

 _Chase was scared out of his mind. He hadn't even known Jeremiah had a gun! He ate the piece of fish. Sadly, that wasn't the end of it. Jeremiah had him eat yet another piece of fish. None of the pieces were dinky fish either. They were good-sized._

 _Soon, Chase could no longer hold his fish in. He threw it up all over the table._

" _Lick it clean," Jeremiah ordered._

" _Dad, you can't be serious!" Trevin said._

 _Jeremiah whipped around to face him. "Hush, Boy or you'll be forced to help him!"_

 _This immediately shut Trevin up._

 _Chase, feeling on the verge of throwing up again, but fearing having his brains blown out if he were to say no, began licking up his own vomit like a dog. Then, he threw up all over again._

 _Trevin covered his mouth as if he were going to puke too. "May I please be excused?" he asked from behind his hand._

 _Jeremiah nodded._

 _Trevin then took off toward his room._

 _Jeremiah then opened his gun and showed Chase that it wasn't even loaded. He chuckled. "Gotcha!" He then closed his gun and tucked it back into his leg holster. "Now go get a rag and some cleaner from underneath the kitchen sink and clean that up before I decide to load it." He then headed to his room, and shut the door quietly behind him._

 _Chase was left shocked in the dining room, still shaking. He threw up one more time, and then went to get the cleaning supplies from underneath the sink in the kitchen._

"That son of a bitch!" Aiden yelled. He angrily stood up from the couch. "I'm going to find him. I'm going to find him, and then I'm going to kill him!"

Hope grabbed his arm and gently pulled him back down beside her. "Let him finish, then we'll decide what we're going to do," she said gently. She looked him in the eyes. " _Together_."

Aiden looked at her like he was going to protest, then his face softened and he turned his attention back to Chase. "Please, son. Continue."

"Can I have a break first? There are too many bad thoughts swimming around in my head right now. I wanna watch some TV to take my mind off them," Chase said.

Hope and Aiden both hesitated.

"Please?" Chase pleaded." Just one half-hour show."

Hope sighed. "Fine. But then we really need to continue talking." She wanted his full statement now more than ever. As much as she wasn't exactly Chase's number one fan, she knew he didn't deserve this, and it was high time that both Jeremiah and his son paid for that they had done to Chase—sooner rather than later.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

"So, did I do well? Am I forgiven?" Andre asked as Carol leaned against his shoulder, his arm around her. They were riding in the gondola under the stars with the gondolier singing an Italian version of Whitney Houston's "I Will Always Love You".

Carol had her hand resting over Andre's chest. She felt peaceful, and had to admit, he had definitely made it up to her. Though, after last night, she was starting to feel like she was the one who had the making up to do. "Yes, completely," she said dreamily. This was the kind of romance she had always dreamed of. She had wanted a grand, romantic gesture like this, and now she finally had it.

After the gondola ride, instead of waiting for the gondolier to help her out, Andre got out, took her hand, kissed it, and then helped her out himself.

"Thank you," Carol said with a blush.

Andre tipped the gondolier handsomely, and then took Carol's hand between both of his. "My cleaning crew will take care of everything here. Shall we go home?"

Carol smiled and nodded, then gently squeezed Andre's hand. "Yes. Let's go home so I can thank you for tonight."

He smiled the smile she loved, and they were off.

Carol suddenly felt guilty on both the Casey and the Andre end.

 _ **~*came back to me*~**_

Chase turned off the television. He was ready to talk again. "It's getting late, and I really don't feel like rehashing in major detail anything else that Jeremiah did to me. One time he forced me to smoke marijuana until I started hallucinating. He thought it was hilarious. Trevin got abused too, but for other things. Rarely were we punished together except for the window incident. It was just whoever happened to get in Jeremiah's way first that got the brunt of his anger."

Hope and Aiden looked at each other in concern, then back at Chase.

"Anyway, Trevin and I kind of grew close over our abuse. We really only ever felt safe with each other. We were so happy one day when Jeremiah went away for the weekend. He was traveling with his marijuana, selling it to dealers. Of course, that meant we were under house arrest for the weekend. He made sure we had plenty of food, but he locked us in. Whenever Jeremiah went away for a longer period of time, he would switch the doorknobs so that the doors could be locked on the outside, and you couldn't unlock them from the inside. He had made the windows so that they didn't even open at all. He didn't trust us to go anywhere without him, and like I said, there was no phone or computer. At least none that we had access to," Chase continued.

"That's so sick and twisted!" Hope said.

Chase nodded. "It turns out it wasn't a good thing after all for us to be left alone. It just gave Trevin the chance to…" He teared up. He began to rock back and forth with his arms still wrapped tightly around his knees. He hated going back. He hated thinking about that night….

 _They were in Chase's bedroom one night, talking, and laughing; having a good time, and enjoying having the place to themselves with no fear of being abused by Jeremiah._

" _Wanna wrestle?" Trevin asked Chase. Play wrestling was something they both enjoyed doing. It was one of the only things they could think if to do to entertain themselves. They didn't have much else to do in that house other than harvest marijuana._

 _Chase agreed, so they stripped down to their underwear since it was to them the closest thing to wrestling outfits they had._

 _After a bit, Chase suddenly started to feel uncomfortable. Trevin was looking at him in a weird way, and his hands would "accidentally" brush places on Chase that Chase didn't feel comfortable with him touching._

 _Chase stood up and sat down on his bed. "Dude, you win. I'm tired of playing."_

 _Trevin looked disappointed. His face then lit up. "I wanna show you something." He disappeared out of his room, and then came back with a pair of handcuffs._

" _Where did you get those?" Chase asked._

 _Trevin smirked. "I stole them from Dad's room a couple days ago. I was afraid he'd use them on us, so I took them before he could"._

" _That's weird. Why would he own handcuffs?" Chase asked._

 _Trevin shrugged. "With Dad, you never know. Heck, I don't want to know. He walked over to Chase and grabbed his wrist. He then slapped a cuff on._

" _What are you doing?" Chase asked with a grin. "Quit messing around."_

" _See if you can get out of these like Houdini!" Trevin said._

 _Chase rolled his eyes. "Give me the key first."_

" _They're trick handcuffs. They don't have a key, but there is a trick to getting them open. See if you can figure it out," Trevin said to him._

 _Chase sighed. He was bored, so he figured, why not? He put his hand behind his back and allowed Trevin to cuff his other wrist so that Chase's hands were now cuffed behind his back._

 _Chase stood up, and for a minute or so, he tried to get out of the cuffs. After that, he was tired of trying. "All right. I can't figure out how on earth you get out of these. Take them off please."_

 _Trevin laughed, and pushed him so that he fell onto his stomach on the bed._

" _Dude, what are you doing? Please, just get these off of me. My wrists are starting to hurt," Chase grumbled._

" _Take what off you? These?" Trevin asked coyly. He then yanked down Chase's underwear with one swift motion_

" _Dude, what the hell are you doing?" Chase asked; alarmed. "Knock it off!"_

" _Oh come on! You can't honestly tell me you never wondered what it would be like to be with another guy." Trevin slowly ran his fingertips down Chase's backside._

" _Trevin, knock it off! I don't swing that way, all right? It's cool if you do, but that stuff's not for me!" Chase said, panic filling his voice._

 _Trevin slipped out of his own underwear. "But how do you know if you never tried it?"_

 _Chase frantically tried to move, but Trevin was above him, pinning him down now._

" _Don't worry, Chase. You'll like it! I know we both will. Oh wait! I need a lubricant and protection…" Trevin got up and left the room._

 _Chase took the opportunity to get up off the bed, but it was hard to do so without any hands._

 _By the time Trevin had come back, Chase was only halfway to the bedroom door._

" _You just need to relax!" Trevin pushed Chase backwards toward the bed. He then roughly turned him around, and threw him back down onto his stomach on the bed._

" _Please don't do this!" Chase said as he felt Trevin straddle him from behind again._

 _He heard the cap of lotion flip open. "Don't worry," Trevin leaned down to murmur in his ear you'll like it! I promise."_

 _But Chase_ didn't _end up liking it. In fact, he didn't like it at all._

"I think I'm going to be sick," Aiden said, turning pale.

"Imagine how I felt!" Chase snapped, tears now streaming down his face. "When it was done, he was _so_ sorry. It was as if he regretted it immediately after he realized what he had just done. I told him I hated him, and that I'd never forgive him for what he had just done to me. He had tears streaming down his face and told me he could make it up to me. I asked him how he could possibly make it up to me. He responded by saying he could tell me the truth about who I was."

"So, he told you everything, and that's how you knew how you got kidnapped, and how you knew about your life before being kidnapped?" Hope asked.

"Yes," Chase answered. "Well, that and the fact that he told me not to take the pills I was being fed. He told me then that they weren't really for seizures, but to make me forget things. So, just in case he was telling me the truth, I stopped taking them. It was only a matter of days without taking them that I started to remember. Within two weeks, I remembered everything."

"Didn't Jeremiah know you stopped taking them?" Aiden asked.

"I pulled the under my tongue trick a couple of times, then excused myself to use the bathroom and spit it into the toilet. Most of the time he wasn't even around anyway. He'd just leave me with a little plastic cup with my pill in it, tell me I knew where the water was, then take off to do whatever it was he had to do," Chase explained.

Aiden shook his head. "I can't believe you had to go through all this." He buried his face in his hands.

Chase continued. "Once I remembered everything, I knew I had to get out of there. Trevin knew to stay out of my way, but Jeremiah was starting to get worse with his moods. I behaved the best I could, and thankfully, I was able to stay out of harm's way for the most part. There were a couple of minor incidents, but nothing major. I guess they seemed like nothing compared to the hell I had just gone through with Trevin. One day, when Jeremiah was out for a couple hours, I knew it was my chance to escape. Remembering how easily the window had broken before, I knew I could just break it and escape that way. Trevin was in the shower, and I knew I had to act fast. I quickly packed the peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and water bottles, and then headed for the window. I picked up a kitchen chair along the way. I was about to smash the window when Trevin shouted out to me."

"So he stopped you from leaving?" Aiden's face paled even more. "Please tell me he didn't…" He couldn't even say it.

Chase shook his head. "No. Not again, thank God. He cried out, 'Please don't!' I looked at him, ready to throw the chair at him if I had to, but he held out the key to me. He told me it was his father's spare key that he had found hidden between his mattresses one time. I asked him why he didn't say anything before about it. He told me he had nowhere else to go, and that he hadn't wanted me to leave him. But now he knew he had to let me go. I set down the chair, grabbed the key from him, mumbled a quick thank you, and then unlocked the door. I tossed the key back at him, then took off without ever looking back. I ran for what seemed like hours, but was really maybe ten minutes tops. I hitchhiked as soon as I got onto the road. Thankfully, it only took about ten minutes for someone to pick me up. I kept getting worried Jeremiah was going to see me, or that one of his friends would, but thankfully, it was just a regular guy."

"So, you hitchhiked the rest of the way. Everything you said about going to Oregon first then hitchhiking all the way back to Salem was true?" Hope asked.

Chase nodded. "Yes. Now I've told you everything you need to know. I want to go to sleep now. It's getting late."

"All right, Son. I'll be up in a minute to tuck you in," Aiden told him.

"Dad, I'm not ten anymore. You don't need to come up and tuck me in." Chase shook his head, then got up and headed upstairs to his room for the night.

Aiden looked at Hope and sighed. "I'm telling you right now, Hope. Your department better find Jeremiah and Trevin before I do, cuz if I find them first, I'm going to kill them.

Hope looked at him in shock, then shook her head. She wished he was kidding, but somehow, she knew he wasn't.

 _ **~*came back to me*~**_

Carol sneaked out of the bedroom that night. Andre was sleeping when she got the text from Casey. _Where are you? Did you break up with him yet?_

Carol quickly texted him back. _I don't think I can break up with him. I might have jumped the gun a bit too quickly. We're trying to work things out. Please don't tell Andre about our one-night-stand._

Casey texted back a moment later. _That's all it was to you? Just a 'one-night stand'?_

Carol sighed. She knew he wasn't going to like it. _I'm sorry. I really am. Last night was a mistake. It shouldn't have happened. Can we please just go back to being friends and forget tonight ever happened?_

It seemed to take forever, but Casey finally texted her back. _I'm sorry, Carol, but I can't be just friends with you. Not after what happened._

Carol bit her bottom lip. _What are we supposed to do then? Not be friends anymore?_

Casey never texted her back.

Carol wanted to cry. Why did she always get herself into these messes? She sighed, then after she was sure Casey wasn't going to text her back, she turned off her phone and headed back to bed.

"Where'd you go?" Andre asked her, pulling her closer. He was half asleep.

"I just had to go to the bathroom. Go back to sleep." She kissed his cheek.

Andre fell back asleep almost immediately. Carol, however, lay in bed for what seemed like forever, worried about her friendship with Casey.

She finally fell asleep, hoping that Casey would be over it by morning, and that they could go back to being friends. After all, she couldn't imagine her life without him now.


	55. S3E5

_**This Love…**_

 _ **Season 3 Episode 5: Casey**_

Casey looked at his phone and pressed the decline button. It was the fifth time that morning that Carol had called him, and this was a week after she had told him she chose Andre. He didn't see the point in answering her calls.

He patted Jake's head. "I'm sorry, Boy. I know you like it here, but it's time we move on again. I'm sure you'll like Tennessee. Maybe our next place will have a bigger yard for you to run around in." He had gotten an offer for a contraction job in Memphis, helping to build a new country-themed hotel. The job was a contract job for six-months with an option to stay with the company and move on to other jobs once that one was done. He wasn't going to take it at first, for he didn't want to be away from Carol. However, since Carol had decided to stay with Andre, he didn't feel the need to stay in Salem anymore. There was nothing left in Salem for him now other than Jake, whom he obviously would bring with him.

He sighed, thinking of the lengths he had gone to avoid seeing Carol. He had parked his car at the twenty-four-hour Wal-Mart and then walked five minutes to his apartment just so that he could pretend to not be home if Carol came over. This way, his car wouldn't be in the lot and she'd believe he wasn't home. She had come over to his house twice that he had known of. He had even gone so far as to stay a couple nights at a hotel—pet friendly of course.

Well, now he was all packed up and ready to go. Lucky for him, he didn't have much to pack. He never was a man of many material things, and all his furniture was part of the pre-furnished apartment, so it would stay at the apartment. All he had was just a few bags of clothes, his guitar, some toiletries, and Jake. Jake only had his leash, bed, food and water dishes, a big bag of food, some water bottles, and some toys.

"I just have to get the car up to date, and then we can be on our way. Be a good boy. Daddy will be back soon," Casey said to Jake. He kissed Jake's head, and then took off to get a grease and oil change, as well as a car checkup.

 _ **~*came back to me*~**_

"Well you're a site for sore eyes."

Aiden looked up from the cup of coffee he was drinking at the Town Square Café, and saw Lucas standing in front of him, looking at him sympathetically. He sipped his coffee. "You could say that."

Lucas sat down across from Aiden. A menu was already waiting for him at his seat. Aiden had called him that morning, asking if he wanted to meet for lunch. "What's wrong? I heard your son's back. I thought you'd be over the moon!"

Aiden looked him in the eyes. "I am _thrilled_ he's back. Are you kidding me? I thought my son was dead for over a year, and now I find out he's alive. Not only that, but he's back home with me. I _am_ over the moon."

"So, what's the problem then?" Lucas asked, an eyebrow raised. "I hope everything is still good with you and Hope."

"Things are amazing with me and Hope. But my son…Now that' a different story." Aiden paused. He had invited Lucas to lunch because he had wanted a non-bias, uninvolved friend to talk to. However, now he was beginning to wonder if he should really be saying anything to Lucas. After all, he was sure Chase didn't want anyone else to know about the rape.

"What's wrong? What happened to him anyway when you thought he was dead?" Lucas began to look over his menu.

Aiden sighed. He then reached over and gently pushed Lucas' menu down on the table and looked Lucas in the eyes. "I shouldn't even be telling you any of this, but I really need a friend to talk to. Hope is home resting. She is on bed rest, and due to have the twins any day now. I don't want to worry her by talking about it with her. Plus, after what Chase did to Ciara… I just don't feel right talking to her about this."

He had Lucas' full attention. "Okay, talk to me then. I know we're kind of new at this whole friendship thing, but lucky for you, I'm a really good listener, and a sometimes problem solver. Tell me what's wrong. I promise it stays between you and me."

Before Aiden could respond, the waitress came. They gave her their orders, and then once she had left, Aiden decided he needed to tell Lucas what had happened because he needed to tell _somebody_. He knew he could trust Lucas anyway.

"Chase went through a lot of abuse when he was kidnapped," Aiden began.

"Physical abuse?" Lucas asked.

"A little bit of every kind of abuse you can think of," Aiden said quietly. He looked Lucas in the eyes again. "But I'm getting ahead of myself."

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

Carol was beside herself as she left another voice message for Casey. "Casey, please call me. I was with Andre before we became friends and you still wanted to be my friend. Why does anything have to change just because we slept together one time? You're really going to break up a friendship because of this? Please, at least talk to me if our friendship ever meant anything to you."

She clicked of the phone and sighed. It had been a week. She had thought he'd be over it by now. She had called him every day, and even gone to his house a couple times a day to no avail. He was never home anymore. It was saddened to her think of him hating her so much that he would ignore her calls and avoid seeing her at all costs. She wished he currently had a job, but he had just finished on job and was currently waiting on his next construction job assignment. Bottom line, she couldn't even go to his work to get to him because he wasn't working.

"So, what are you going to do today?" Andre asked, coming into the room. I have a few business meetings to attend to, but after that, I have the evening free. Feel like dinner and a movie tonight? I feel like we never actually go on real, normal people dates." He wrapped his arms around her from behind.

Carol smirked. "Normal people dates?"

"You think we're normal?" Andre asked.

Carol laughed. "Good point!"

They kissed.

"I'm probably just going to run some errands today, and maybe do a little shopping. Dinner and a movie tonight sounds great," Carol replied.

They kissed once more.

"Here's my platinum card. Buy yourself whatever you'd like. I will see you tonight, my sweet Caroline." Andre said, handing her his card. He kissed her lips, and then took off.

Carol looked at the card and sighed. At least he was trying. She didn't have the heart to tell him her name wasn't short for anything; it was just Carol.

She grabbed her purse, pocketed the card, slipped her shoes on, and then took off. She had to find Casey even if it meant camping out in front of his apartment door. After all, she figured, he had to come home at some point, right?

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

"Wow." Lucas was shocked at the story Aiden had just told him. "I bet this must be hard for you and Hope. Of course, I'm sure Hope wouldn't have wished rape on him, but deep down, I'm guessing she must feel a little…"

"Justified?" Aiden asked.

Lucas shrugged. "I didn't want to say it because I didn't want it to come out wrong, but yes. Are you feeling a little guilty talking to her about it because you feel like you have no right to after what Chase did to Ciara?"

Aiden thought about it for a moment. "You know what? Yes. There was something holding me back from talking to Hope about this. Something just didn't feel right. I didn't know what it was until now. She says she doesn't wish rape on him, and I'm sure she doesn't. But it happened, and now I think it would be impossible for her not to feel at least a little satisfaction. Honestly? Looking at it only from her point of view, I couldn't say I blame her." He looked at Lucas. "Does that make me a bad father?"

Lucas shook his head. "No. That makes you a caring and understanding boyfriend. This isn't just about Chase, it's about Hope too. You both have to adjust to this new situation. It's good you're looking at it from all aspects."

Aiden nodded. "Thank you for saying that."

"It's the truth," Lucas said simply.

"So, what should I do?" Aiden asked. "How can I be there for both Hope and Chase? I always feel like I'm betraying one by sticking up for the other."

Lucas shrugged. "There's no right answer and there's no wrong answer. All you can do is help Chase through this the best you can. Maybe when he's ready, it will help him to talk to someone like Marlena. It wouldn't even have to be her. You can find him a psychiatrist that he is comfortable with. Maybe you can find a group for other male rape victims. I can do some research; ask people in my AA group if anyone knows about that kind of group. There are help groups all over the place or all kinds of situations. You just have to know where to find them."

Aiden felt a little better now that he had some ideas on how to help Chase better. "Thank you. I'd really appreciate you looking into that for me."

"No problem at all. From one father to another, I'm happy to help. I know what it feels like to think your son's dead, then later find out he's alive. It's not just sunshine and roses like one would think it would be. It's a lot to process."

"Only in Salem, right?" Aiden asked with a grin.

Lucas laughed. "Only in Salem," he agreed. He then grew serious. "Just remember to take care of yourself too, all right? Like I said, this is a lot for you to process. Plus, you have some twins coming soon whom you need to be here for besides Hope and Chase."

Aiden nodded. "Well, you've definitely helped me today. I don't have many friends. It feels good to actually have one."

Lucas smiled at him, and held up his lemonade. "To a brand new friendship, and being there for each other when times get tough."

Aiden held up his water. "What you said."

They clinked glasses, then drank up.

They both let out a satisfied "Ah", and then grinned at each other.

 _ **~*came back to me*~**_

Casey came home, and stopped dead in his tracks when he saw Carol's car in the parking lot. "Crap!" he muttered under his breath. He had planned on getting out of town before she even knew he was gone. He sighed. He should have known she wouldn't allow that to happen.

He headed to his apartment, and sure enough, Carol was sitting outside his door.

Carol stood up as soon as she saw him. "Finally! Why have you been avoiding me?"

"We have nothing left to say. You've made it very clear whom it is you want to be with." Casey walked past her and unlocked his door.

"What? So that's it? We can't be friends any longer?" Carol asked.

Casey walked into his apartment. "I don't see what the point is. I want to be more than friends and you don't."

"Can't you just put your feelings for me aside?" Carol asked. "We were just friends all this time and you were fine with it." She shut the door behind her.

Casey looked at her. "We slept together. That changed everything. I don't sleep with just friends. When I slept with you, I was under the impression that we were going to be together."

"You said yourself first thing after we slept together that if I had regrets you would understand because I was still with Andre!" Carol reminded him.

"I only meant, I'd understand if you regretted not breaking up with Andre _before_ sleeping with me instead of after. I didn't mean not break up with him at all!" Casey snapped. He calmed himself down a bit. "It doesn't matter anymore anyway. Jake and I are leaving now for Tennessee."

Carol was surprised. "For what? A vacation? Do you have family down there? This can be good. You can get away from me for a little bit, cool off and revaluate your decision. Then, when you've come back home after having some time to think, we can talk."

Casey shook his head. "It's not just a vacation. I got a contracting job down there to help build a new country music hotel. It's gonna be huge. I also have an apartment lined up. Jake and I will be moving down there effective immediately. Or, in the couple days it will take us to drive there anyway." He grabbed Jake's leash and clipped it to his collar. "Come on, Boy. It's time to go." He looked at Carol. "Goodbye, Carol. I wish you all the best, I really do. Take care of yourself." With that, he turned and opened the door, then headed out. He turned back to Carol. "I need to lock the door and drop the key off to the landlord downstairs. Come on."

Carol followed him out.

Casey locked the door, and then knocked on the door next door to his apartment. He told the old lady neighbor whom he used to help out goodbye.

"Miss Kitty and I are going to miss you so much! And not just because we enjoyed the help around here either," the old woman said. "I know it sounds silly, but you've become like a grandson to me!" She looked as if she were about to cry.

"Oh Miss Miller, I'll come back for a visit! I promise!" Casey said, giving her a big hug.

"You say that, but you'll forget about little ol' me as soon as you're in Tennessee," Miss Miller said with a pout.

Casey shook his head. "Something you need to know about me is that I never break a promise—especially not to a lady—so I'll be back for a visit." He grinned and winked at her.

She smiled. "All right then. Well, I suppose this will give me a chance to do more things on my own. I may be old, but it's no excuse to be lazy, right?"

Casey smiled. "Don't be afraid to trust the landlord. He's not as bad as you think. He can do things for you. Besides, it's the law for him to fix anything you need fixing here." He gave Miss Miller one last hug.

After a tearful goodbye, and after making sure Casey gave Miss Kitty a kiss goodbye, Miss Miller went back into her apartment, and shut the door behind her. As for Casey, he turned and left down the hall without even acknowledging Carol, who was still there.

 _ **~*came back to me*~**_

"So, have you put any thought into getting a job?" Hope asked Chase. She was feeling a little awkward being left alone with him while Aiden had his lunch with Lucas. After getting some rest, she got hungry, so she had ordered a pizza for her and Chase. She had planned on bringing Chase some slices up to his room for him to eat there, but before she could, he came down at sat down at the kitchen table. Not wanting to be rude, she had sat down at the kitchen table with him. Now he was just trying to think of any safe conversation topic.

Chase shrugged. "I'm not really feeling like working lately." He looked at her. "Gosh, Hope, can't you at least give me some time to get through what happened to me before you start nagging me to get a job?"

Hope tried to stay calm. "I'm sorry. Of course. I didn't mean to push. But, Chase, I must insist you please don't speak to me like that in my own home. You're lucky I'm even letting you stay here after what you did to my daughter."

"Well maybe if you had paid more attention to your kids instead of killing a man and trying to get into the pants of the man who helped you cover it up, then I wouldn't have been in that state to do so!" Chase snapped.

Hope gasped. "For one, I was not trying to get into Rafe's pants. I was mourning my husband. Second, don't you dare try to pin what you did on me!"

Chase shrugged. "I'm sorry. You're right. I'm still the only one responsible for my actions. I should have gotten help. Heck, I know I'm not even your kid." He looked Hope in the eyes. "Even so, when we thought Dad died, you promised to take care of me, and for a while, I was kind of excited, thinking I had a mom again."

Hope looked away, starting to feel a little guilty.

Chase continued. "But then you started caring more about Rafe, and less about me. Heck, you even paid more attention to Rafe than _Ciara_! You claimed to be _so_ upset over Bo, who, by the way, was not your husband anymore. My dad was. Which reminds me, you didn't even bother mourning the loss of the love you thought you and my dad shared—the love you _did_ share. You sure got over both Bo and my dad pretty quickly once Rafe decided you had to be with him because Bo told him to take care of you. Let me add that 'take care of' does not mean screw his ex-wife!" Chase snapped. "And shouldn't you have made your own decision? Last time I checked, you don't just pass someone off to someone else."

Hope felt her anger rise. Her eyes coldly bore into his. "You know _nothing_ about what I went through at that time."

Chase raised an eyebrow. "Don't I, Hope? I felt alone and abandoned, and the only friend I had was Andre Dimera of all people. You were absolutely no help to me at all, and I thought my dad was dead. Aunt Carol didn't want me back then. I had nobody but Andre to turn to. Can you really blame me for being messed in the head? Of course you can. You can and you do. You think everyone else must pay for their crimes, and that no one else is allowed to screw up no matter what the circumstances unless it's you. You were in a crazy state when whom you thought was my dad tried to kill you, and Bo died. You killed a man, Hope. You killed a man, covered up the body, and blamed someone else for it. Yet you didn't want to go to jail for doing that, and you didn't think you even deserved to be in jail. You thought the justice system was so horrible for daring to put you in there. Heck, Rafe never even had to pay for a minute _his_ part of the crime. Yet, you think I, who lost my father, and who had no mother or any kind of family at all, had no excuse to lose my mind. You're a hypocrite, Hope. You're a hypocrite, and I hate your guts! My dad deserves so much better than you! Trust me, I'll try to get a job as soon as I can just to get away from you!" Chase then took off, and ran out of the kitchen and up to his bedroom.

Hope winced as she heard his bedroom door slam a moment later.

Aiden came home then, and walked into the kitchen. "Hey, Baby. Where's Chase? His room as usual?" He kissed Hope's cheek, then noticed the sad expression on her face. "What's wrong?"

Hope winced. "I think I just made things worse with Chase. He just told me he hates me, and that you can do better than me. He thinks I'm a hypocrite for judging him after I killed Stefano."

Aiden sighed. "I'll go talk to him." He said before leaving the kitchen to go talk to Chase.

Hope sighed. A part of Chase was right. She knew that. Even so, she suddenly couldn't help but find herself hating him in return.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

Casey ran out to Casey's car, and stood in front of it.

Casey rolled down his window and leaned out. "Carol, get out of the way." He turned the engine on.

Carol shook her head. "No. Not until you talk to me. I'm not just going to let you leave. We're not ending our friendship. Not like this."

"Carol, we have nothing left to say to each other," Casey said with a sigh.

Carol had tears in her eyes. "I don't understand why you're not fighting for me!"

"Fight for what?" Casey asked. "It's a losing battle, Carol! You keep picking Andre over me, even after you and I slept together. I can't do this anymore. We're adults, Carol. You may want to forever stay in the high school/college era, but I can't and I won't. I'm not going to do this on-again/off-again thing. You either want to be with me or you don't. You made it pretty clear what your answer is. As for being friends, I just don't see the point when I love you more than I ever loved another woman. I could never just be friends with you without wanting more. It's just easier to move on and not see you anymore than it is to be friends with you and know that I can never have you in the way that I want you."

"So that's it? You're just going to leave and never see me again?" Carol asked, more tears streaming down her face.

Casey turned the car motor off. "Don't you think this kills me, Carol? It does! It's like a thousand knives to my heart! But as long as you're still with Andre, I just can't stay," Casey confessed.

Tears still streaming down Carol's face, she took out her cell phone and put it on speaker. She then dialed a number and turned the volume up.

The phone rang, and then Andre picked up. "Hello, my Sweet Caroline! How is everything going? Did you buy something nice for yourself?"

"Andre, I'm sorry to do this over the phone, but it has to be now. I'm in love with Casey, and I can't live without him. I can't be with you any longer when my heart belongs to another man. It's not fair to me, and it's not fair to you," Carol said.

There was a pause on the line before Andre spoke. "Are you sure about this? I won't play this game anymore. I went through it with Kate, and I'm not going to go through it again with you. If you break up with me now, it's over for good!"

"Goodbye, Andre. Thank you for all you've done for me. I will never forget it. You're a good person. At least, a better person than you're given credit for. Never settle for anyone other than the best, who loves you and only you. I'm sorry that it's not me." Carol then hung up.

She put her phone back in her purse, and then looked at Casey. "I meant every word. Now the ball's in your court." She stepped away from the car, and held up her hands.

She and Casey made eye contact.

Casey then started his engine, and pulled away.

Carol felt her heart sink.

However, Casey did a U-turn, pulled back into the parking lot, and back into his parking space. "Got ya!" he said out the window. "As if I could ever leave you after what you just did and said!"

Carol grinned big. "But what about your job and your apartment in Tennessee?"

Casey put it in park, turned the engine off, and then got out of the car. "I reckon it's not too late to keep the apartment and job I have here. I did get an offer to work on the new doctor's office about twenty minutes from here on East Songer Street. As for my boss in Tennessee, well, he has plenty of workers where I came from. As for the Tennessee apartment, the landlord has plenty of tenants ready to take my spot!"

Carol grinned. "So you're staying?"

Casey nodded. "Yes, Ma'am!" He raised an eyebrow. "So you'll be my girlfriend?"

Carol ran over to him and gave him the most passionate kiss she could give him. "Does that answer your question?" she asked.

Casey tipped his cap. "Yes, Ma'am!"

Suddenly, Jake barked loudly from the car.

Carol laughed, and opened the door, allowing him to jump out. He then jumped up on and her and began to lick her face all over.

She laughed. "It looks like Jake is happy to be staying too!"

Casey grinned. "He loves his mamma; just like his daddy does!"

Carol smiled at Casey, and then pet Jake's head and smiled down at him. "And I love my boys." She kissed Jake's head, and then Casey's cheek.

Then, together, the three of them walked back into Casey's apartment to reclaim his key from the landlord.


	56. S3E6

_**This Love…**_

 _ **Season 3 Episode 6: Step Into the Light**_

It was September fifth. The end of summer was nearing. Aiden hated leaving Hope at this point in her pregnancy, but he had to work. He had several different court dates all throughout the day, followed by a night court case.

"I hate being away from you all day and into the night—especially with you ready to give birth any day now," Aiden said to her. He took her hands in his and kissed them.

"I'll be fine. I'm more concerned about being here alone with Chase," Hope replied. Chase was currently watching television in his room. "He still hates me, and frankly, I'm not his biggest fan either. I really wish he'd get a job. I know he's been through a lot, but it's stressful to have him home all the time." Hope looked away. "I'm sorry. I know you don't want to hear it."

Aiden gently took her chin between his thumb and index finger and moved her face so that she was forced to look at him. "Hey, Chase isn't my only priority. You're obviously a priority too, and if something bothers you, it bothers me." He kissed her cheek. "I already called Carol last night. She and Casey are going to come pick him up in a little bit and take him out to get dinner and see a movie. Trust me—he'll stay in his room until they arrive here to pick him up. He doesn't want to be around you any more than you want to be around him." Aiden's face fell a bit.

Hope sighed. She gently stroked his cheek with the back of her hand. "I'm sorry. I know you don't like that he and I…don't get along. But you have to understand, he raped my daughter. It's something that will probably live with me forever. I can try to forgive him, and I'll of course be civil to him, but Ciara is my baby. I don't care how old she gets, she will always be my little girl. And when someone hurts my little girl…" Hope trailed off. "It's just not so easy for me to forgive and forget, you know?"

Aiden nodded. "I understand. I don't like it, but I understand. Just so long as _you_ understand that he is my son, and I know he deeply regrets what he did. I can't just turn my back on him or stop loving him because he made a mistake—even when that mistake is the biggest mistake he ever made in his life. Now if he didn't regret what he did, and if he didn't work hard to change and was still a rapist, that would be a whole different story. I'd still love him, but I certainly wouldn't be having him live in our house!"

Hope nodded. "I do understand. I think as long as we can agree to disagree on Chase, and as long as we understand each other's feelings toward the matter, we'll be okay."

"Better than okay!" Aiden said with a grin.

Hope grinned too. "Yes, better than okay."

They kissed.

Hope rested her forehead against his. "And thank you for thinking of me and making sure he got out of the house. I appreciate it."

"It's impossible for me to not think of you when you're a part of my heart," Aiden said to her, staring into her eyes that made him weak.

Hope kissed him passionately. "I can't wait to be able to make love with you again," she murmured, resting her cheek against his.

"You and me both, Baby. You and me both," he murmured, looking down at her with love and a very deep desire.

They kissed once more, and then he left, missing her already just as she missed him already.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

"Ugh! I think I'm dying!" Carol groaned.

Casey dabbed her forehead with a cold, wet washcloth. "You have a temperature. I should call the doctor. You're burning up! What if it has something to do with your kidney?"

Carol shook her head. "No, no, no! It's just the sushi I ate for dinner last night. I'm sure it's just food poisoning. It will be gone in twenty-four hours. No use wasting the money with a doctor."

Casey shook his head. "I told you not to buy sushi at a gas station! That stuff always lies around for God only knows how long. I honestly don't know how you can eat that stuff anyway. Yuck!" he made a face.

"Trust me, I don't ever want to eat it again!" Carol said with a groan.

Casey smirked. "I bet you said that the first time you had sushi and got sick. Yet, here you are again. You ate it, and got sick."

"It's just so good!" Carol said.

"Yeah, well, I think it's disgusting," Casey replied.

"You never even tried sushi!" Carol noted.

Casey shrugged. "I don't have to try it to know it's gross. Raw fish? No thank you!"

Carol was turning green. "Please don't mention—"

Casey held the bucket up to her just in time for her to deposit the contents of her stomach into it. She hadn't thought she had anything left to throw up.

"I guess we better cancel dinner and a movie with Chase," Casey said. He sighed. "I'd go myself, but I don't think you're in any position to be left alone. Besides, he might feel awkward with just me. I don't think he has quite warmed up to me yet anyway."

Carol nodded. "I hate to cancel, but there's no way in heck I can go like this, and you're right—I'm in no position to be left alone."

"I'll call Hope," Casey said, heading for his cell phone. "She's not going to like this."

"Tell her I'm sorry!" Carol said before throwing up again.

Casey got a paper towel and wiped her mouth. "I'm sure she'll understand." He then got on the phone to call Hope and tell her the bad news.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

"Tell her I hope she feels better…. I understand… I'm not angry… It's no one's fault. These things just happen… Thanks for calling. Please send my love… Goodbye." Hope clicked off her phone and sighed. "Great! Just great," she grumbled. Like she had assured Casey, she wasn't angry, and she understood. Things happened. What mattered was that Carol got better. Still… Tonight was not going to be fun.

She headed up to Chase's room to inform him of the change of plans. She gently knocked on his door. "Chase, I just got off the phone with Casey. Your aunt is sick so they can't make it tonight. They think she has food poisoning."

"Yeah, right! They probably just want a chance to screw around and not have to bother babysitting me," an annoyed sounding Chase said from the other side of the door.

Hope sighed. "They wouldn't lie about her being sick, Chase. Carol loves you very much. She would not make an excuse to not hang out with you."

"Whatever," Chase grumbled.

Again, Hope sighed. Where was that sweet little nine-year-old boy Chase used to be when she first met him? Back then, had someone showed her a glimpse into the future of how Chase was going to turn out, she never would have believed them. "What do you want to do for dinner? We can order a pizza in or I can go out and bring you something back."

"Don't bother! I wouldn't want you wasting your precious money on me. I don't even have a job, remember?" Chase snapped angrily.

"Chase, don't be like that. I don't mind buying you dinner," Hope said softly. In some ways she did, but for Aiden's sake, she was willing to do it. "Everyone gets a job at some point. If you need more time, that is fine. I was honestly just looking for conversation when I asked you about one. I didn't know what else to talk about. If we have to live in the same house, don't you think we should learn to at least be civil to each other?"

Chase was quiet for a moment. "I'll get a job eventually. Then we won't have to live in the same house together." His tone was less angry, this time, with a hint of sadness.

"Until then, what would you like for dinner?" Hope asked. "We can still go out if you'd like."

"Go out to dinner just the two of us? No thanks," Chase grumbled.

"Pizza it is then," Hope said. She walked back downstairs, a little annoyed that Chase wasn't even willing to try.

She ordered the pizza, and then sat down on the couch with some TV. She was exhausted and it was barely five-thirty! She could hardly wait until the twins were born. Being pregnant with them was taking a lot out of her.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

That night, Hope ate dinner by herself. She had called Chase down for dinner. He had come down, taken what he wanted, then brought it up to his room. She hadn't even bothered to argue with him about it.

She sighed, and lay back on the couch after dinner. Dinner hadn't really set right with her. She closed her eyes and tried to relax. The problem was that it was hard to relax when Chase kept popping into her he

She remembered how close they all had been at one time. Chase and Ciara were still little, and best friends. Little did any of them know then the horror that would eventually come into all their lives.

She remembered whom she thought was Aiden trying to kill her on their wedding night. She'd never tell Aiden this, but sometimes she still had nightmares about that night.

She thought of the sad period of her life when Bo had died and she had killed Stefano. She also thought of her short prison time. Maybe Chase was right, she thought. Maybe she _was_ being hypocritical. But then she thought of Chase raping Ciara, and the anger began coursing through her veins again. She wasn't quite ready to forgive him yet, if ever. Ciara still didn't know he was living with them. She was ashamed to say she hadn't even told her that Chase was still alive. If Ciara knew that Chase was still alive, she would surely suspect that he was living with them.

Hope was startled from her thoughts when a contraction hit. She tried to relax. It might have just been dinner backing up on her, she knew. She had had false alarms when it came to contractions before, so she wasn't going to panic just yet.

She closed her eyes again and rubbed her stomach as she thought about her time with Rafe. They had been happy. They really had. But, looking back on it, she had only _wanted_ to be in love. She had thought she had been in love with him. She really had. But now she could see that she just wanted to feel loved. She wanted to fill the romance void in her life that Bo and Aiden had left empty. Also, a part of her had felt guilted into being with Rafe since it was what Bo had wanted. But now she knew that all Bo really wanted was for her to be happy, whether it be with Rafe, Aiden, or whomever. It had taken Aiden coming back to make her realize that. It wasn't even the death of RJ and Faith that had made her realize it. It was just that, whenever Aiden was around, he was all she could think about. Her heart wanted who it wanted, and that was Aiden.

Another contraction hit. She sat up, hoping that this was just another false alarm. But when the contractions kept coming with not much space in between, she started to panic.

She stood up to get her cell phone and text Aiden, but then her water broke. "Oh no. Please not now, Babies!" she said, rubbing her stomach. "I need your Daddy here!" She grabbed her cell phone and texted Aiden. She knew she couldn't call him because he was in court, but she hoped he at least had his cell phone on vibrate so he would know he had a text.

 _It's time. The babies are coming. Please get home as soon as you can!_

The contractions were coming more rapidly now. The was no mistake this time—she was going into labor.

She started to call 911, but before she could finish dialing, her cell phone died. She had used up the battery. "No!" she yelled. She tossed her phone as another painful contraction hit. The phone slammed against the wall. She was afraid she had broken it, but she was in too much pain to care. Months ago, she had gotten rid of the landline phone since there was really no need for one when they all had their own phones. Now she was kicking herself for being so stupid. She also wanted to kick herself for being so dumb as to not make sure her phone was fully charged.

She headed to the stairs and called up. "Chase! Chase come down here _now_. Please! I need you! It's an emergency!"

Chase opened his door, and walked down the hallway, stopping at the top of the stairs. "What?" he asked, sounding annoyed.

"I need you to use your phone to call 911. I'm having the babies!" Hope informed him.

"Now?" Chase asked in surprise.

Hope cried out as another big contraction hit. "Yes, now!"

Chase came down the stairs. "I can't call them. I was so angry with you that one day, I threw my phone against the wall, and it shattered. I was afraid Dad would get angry if I told him since he just bought it for me."

"Chase!" Hope snapped.

"Yelling at me isn't going to help! Why can't you use your phone?" he snapped.

"The battery is dead, and I got rid of my landline," she explained.

"Why would you do that?" he asked her.

"I didn't think I needed it! Anyway, I do not have time to explain things to you or to argue with you. You're going to have to take me to the hospital. Please!" Hope begged.

"I don't have my license anymore. It expired last week," Chase explained.

"I'm not worried about a ticket! I'm a cop. I'll make sure you don't get in trouble. No one's going to catch you driving anyway. Just please, go get my keys and take me to the hospital. They are up on my bedroom dresser." Another huge contraction hit. "Hurry!" Hope snapped.

Chase ran upstairs to get her keys, but by the time he got back downstairs, she was lying on the floor, crying out in pain.

Hope looked at him. "There's no time. They're coming now, ready or not. I need you to deliver them for me."

Chase's eyes got wide. "Are you insane?"

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

Aiden was exhausted after being on court cases all day long and well into the evening. He wanted to check his phone, but this particular judge did not allow cell phones in his courtroom. They were now on a break, so Aiden took the opportunity to go down to his car and check to see if he had any messages. Once he was back in his car, he checked his messages.

He read Hope's text and wanted to leave right then and there. He knew he couldn't, for he was in the middle of a case.

He quickly called Hope, but her phone went straight to voicemail. He tried calling Chase, but he never picked up anymore. Now was no different.

He quickly called his colleague Jack to come take over the rest of his cases. His clients would understand. Besides, he only had two more night court cases after this anyway.

He headed back into court. He knew the current case should finish in fifteen minutes, and then Jack would be there, and he could leave. He just hoped it wasn't too late.

 _ **~*came back to me*~**_

"Chase, I'm sorry. I'm no more thrilled about this than you are, but it has to be done. Please! I need you!" Hope cried out.

"I don't know how to deliver a baby, let alone two!" Chase said, panic in his voice.

"You just have to pull them out. I'll do all the work other than that." Hope looked him in the eyes, her own eyes pleading. "Please."

Chase sighed. "All right. What do I need?"

"Go wash your hands and arms, and then get some rubber gloves on. There is a box under the kitchen sink. Get a towel to wipe the babies off after you deliver them, and a blanket to lie them down on once they're born," Hope instructed. "They'll need some extra blankets to keep them warm too."

"I really don't want to do this!" Chase said, but headed to get the supplies nonetheless.

"Hurry!" Hope cried out as another contraction hit.

Chase ran as quickly as he could. First he got the towels and blankets upstairs. He then ran downstairs so fast he almost tripped. He laid the blanket down beside Hope, and set the towels and extra blankets on top of the blanket. He then ran to the kitchen to wash up and get the gloves on. Finally, he headed over to Hope. "What now?"

"Help me get my pants and underwear off. I'm sorry, Chase. Trust me, you're the last one I want to have to expose myself to, but it has to be done. There's no other way." Hope hated this. She wanted to be in a hospital with pain meds and Aiden—not at home on the floor with the boy who raped her daughter. But she had zero choice. The twins wanted out, and they wanted out now.

"This is so gross! I feel dirty!" Chase said as he quickly unbuttoned and unzipped Hope's maternity jeans and slid them off. He hesitated with the underwear.

"You had no problem when you did it to my daughter, so suck it up and take them off!" Hope snapped. Having babies without pain meds, and being stuck in this horrible situation was starting to make her cranky.

Chase did as told, his anger taking over for his queasiness. "Fine! Whatever. Let's just get this over with. I don't even want these little brats to begin with. You're lucky I'm even doing this for you."

"It's the least you can do," Hope said coldly, giving him the death glare.

Chase looked away as she spread her legs.

"You have to look, Chase. You can't deliver them blindly," Hope chastised.

"I can try!" Chase said.

"Chase!" Hope screamed as another contraction hit.

Chase whipped his head over to look. "All right, all right!" He groaned. "I see a head. Ew! This is so gross!"

"Take your hands on each side of the head and slowly, help ease him or her out. Don't be too forceful!" Hope said, trying to remain calm, but not feeling very calm. She was in pain, and it was using all the strength she had in her to not rip Chase a new one.

Chase hesitated. "Ew, ew, ew, ew, _ew_!" he said.

"Do it!" Hope said in an almost inhuman voice that scared Chase enough to do as told.

"Remember your breathing exercises and try to give me a big push," Chase said. He was just going by what he always heard and saw on TV and movies. "That is, if you feel like you need to push or whatever," he said.

Hope did indeed push, and then started breathing in short, rapid, breaths.

"It's coming out a little more," Chase said. "I have the full head out."

"Keep trying to get it out. Now please!" Hope yelled.

Chase gently pulled, and surprisingly, he didn't feel too much resistance from the baby. Soon, he saw a shoulder.

Hope was screaming, and it was making him very stressed out. He stopped. "I think you need to push again."

"I can't!" Hope said.

"I think you have to, because it stopped coming out," Chase said, trying to keep his calm. "Only one shoulder's out."

"It hurts too much!" Hope yelled.

"Hope, you have to do this for the twins. They want out, and right now only a head and one shoulder is able to come out. That can't be comfortable for the baby either," Chase told her. "You can do it." He didn't know what else to say.

Hope, tears in her eyes, pushed long and hard, giving it everything she had.

Chase gently coaxed the baby out lifting up a bit, and being careful not to yank too hard. Soon, he had a crying baby girl in his arms. "It's a girl," he said, feeling his heart melt just a little as he looked into the big blue eyes of his baby sister. She had just the faintest bit of brown hair. He wiped her off with a towel as Hope cried in both pain and happiness. He then wrapped the baby in one of the extra blankets he had brought down, and set his baby sister aside. There was still more work to be done. Hope's sudden loud scream reminded him of that.

He turned to her and looked, the full head of the boy was out all ready. He looked at Hope, feeling more confident now that he had already gotten one baby out. "Are you ready for the boy now?" He hadn't bothered to ask for the names of his brother and sister before. He had been too angry to care. But now he found himself wondering what they were going to be named. However, he didn't feel that this was the best time to ask. "The head's already out!"

"I'm not, but apparently, I have to choice," Hope said.

Chase gently took the head, and Hope pushed hard with a scream.

Chase was able to get the baby out to his shoulders. He grabbed the shoulders, but the baby didn't seem to be slipping out anymore. "I need you to push some more."

"I can't, Chase. Do you have any idea how much this hurts?" Hope yelled. She screamed again in pain. "Just get him out! Please!"

"Hope, I need you to push! There's no way he's coming out if you don't keep pushing!" Chase snapped. "Now come on!"

Hope was so angry at Chase for yelling at her when she was in such pain that it gave her more will to push. She pushed as hard as she could manage.

Chase nodded. "Good! He's almost out. I see his stomach. But you need to give me one more really good push, Hope. Whenever you're ready."

"I can't!" Hope was sobbing now. "It hurts too much! He should be out by now! Why isn't he out?"

Chase sighed. "Hope, think of my father. Think of your two beautiful babies. Your son needs to come out. Do it for my dad, do it for the babies, heck, do it for Ciara and Shawn for all I care. Just push, and make it a good one. Please," Chase said, his voice firm and demanding.

Hope glared at him. "You get one good push, then that is it! I'm done! I can't do this anymore! I'm too old to be going through this again!"

"Well don't blame me! I'm not the one who got you into this mess!" Chase shook his head. "I know I've done a lot of things I shouldn't have in my life, but this one is not my fault!"

"Here it comes. You better make it count!" Hope snapped before bracing herself, then with a scream so loud she was sure it could wake the dead, she pushed with everything she had in her.

Chase held tightly to the baby's shoulders, and gently eased him the rest of the way out.

He wiped off his crying brother, and then, like he had done with his sister, wrapped him tightly in a blanket.

"Congrats! You have a girl and a boy," Chase said to Hope.

She was sweating, and crying tears of joy. She held her arms out. "Please, lay them on my chest."

Chase did as told, laying first his brother, who was completely bald with the same big blue eyes as his sister, in the crook of Hope's right arm. Then, he laid his sister in the crook of her left arm.

Hope was crying even more tears of joy as she looked down at her babies. She then looked Chase in the eyes with gratitude. "Thank you," she said gently.

Chase was surprised at the lack of malice he usually got from her. "You're welcome," he said quietly.

Just then, Aiden came crashing into the house. "Hope!" He looked around, and instantly saw Hope holding their children. Chase was sitting at her side, staring down at the babies in awe.

"What happened?" Aiden asked.

Hope looked at him. "I couldn't call 911 because my phone died, and Chase accidentally broke his phone. He had to deliver our babies himself. Meet your son and daughter." She then smiled at Aiden. Haiden was quiet, but Madeleine was crying loudly.

Aiden had tears in his eyes. "Good job, Son! I'm so proud of you!" He said to Chase.

Chase smiled big, but then his smile dropped as Aiden walked right past him without even a hug, sat and leaned down to kissed Hope lovingly on the lips, then picked up Madeleine, who instantly stopped crying once in his arms.

Madeleine looked into Aiden's eyes.

"Hi, Beautiful! I'm your daddy!" Aiden said to her.

She continued to stare at him, as he gently rocked her in his arms, and then her little eyes closed.

Aiden kissed her forehead, and then gently placed her back in Hope's arms so that he could call 911 to take her to the hospital. The babies' cords still needed cut, and Hope needed to pass the placenta. She obviously also needed to be checked out. He didn't want to risk hurting the twins or Hope by taking them to the hospital himself.

After he hung up the phone, Aiden held Haiden and gushed over him, all the while telling Hope how much he loved her.

Chase hung his head. Neither Aiden nor Hope was paying any attention to him now. He had done what they had needed him to do, and now he was no use to them anymore, he figured.

He headed back up stairs to his room, and shut the door behind him. He then threw himself down onto his stomach on his bed, and buried his face in his pillow. He guessed he was just going to have to get used to nobody caring about him anymore. But he had to admit, he didn't feel the hatred toward his new baby siblings that he thought he would feel. In fact the thought of their little faces was the only thing keeping him from going berserk right now.


	57. S3E7

_**This Love…**_

 _ **Season 3 Episode 7: Sing to Me**_

Everything checked out fine. The babies were healthy, and so was Hope. Even so, Kayla wanted her and the twins to stay the night at the hospital just to be safe.

Carol was still too sick to come see the babies, but promised to as soon as she felt better.

Aiden came into Hope's room with a huge bouquet of roses mixed with tulips from red, purple, and pink, to orange, yellow, and white.

Hope laughed. "That bouquet is so big I can't even see your face!"

Aiden set the bouquet down on the table beside her bed and grinned. "Nothing but the best for the mother of my children and love of my life!"

He leaned down and kissed her. "I didn't think it was possible to love you any more than I already do, but I do."

She pulled him down for another kiss, and then rested her forehead against his. "Likewise."

Aiden kissed her again before sitting in the chair next to her bed. "I'm so glad Chase was there for you. I shudder to think of what would have happened if you had been all alone. We're getting that landline phone put back in right away. First thing tomorrow, I'm calling and setting up the appointment."

Hope nodded. "I'm grateful too. You would have been proud of him. At first he was reluctant, but then his instinct seemed to take over. He knew just the right things to say and do."

"So, do you think you and Chase will be on better terms now?" Aiden asked hopefully.

Hope sighed. "I'm still going to need time. But yes, I don't see him as totally unredeemable anymore. It's going to take more than him delivering the twins for me to feel as close to him as I did before the rape though."

Aiden nodded. "That's totally understandable. But you're open to giving him a chance?"

Hope nodded. "I think I can give him a chance at least after what he did for me and the twins."

Aiden's smile turned brighter, causing his dimples to show. "You're the best!"

Hope grinned too. His smile was contagious. "You know, we have to decide for sure on the twins' middle names so that they can go on the birth certificates. I was thinking maybe for Haiden we could name his middle name Zachary in honor of my late son. Would that be weird?"

Aiden shook his head. "I think Haiden Zachary Jennings is a wonderful name. How about for Madeleine, Elizabeth? Elizabeth was my mother's name. Chase's middle name, Michael, is my father's."

Hope smiled and took his hand in hers. "I think Madeline Elizabeth Jennings will be a beautiful name for our daughter.

Just then, Maxine came in with another nurse. They were carrying the twins.

"There are two someones here who want their bottles," Maxine said to Hope.

Hope held her arms out to her babies. She looked at Aiden. "Would you like to feed one?"

Aiden's face lit up. "I'd love to!"

Hope was formula feeding, so the bottles were all made up and ready to go.

Haiden was a little fussy, and Madeleine was really fussy.

Hope took Madeleine first, but she was too busy crying to take her bottle.

"Here. Let me take her. You can have Haiden," Aiden offered. He took Madeleine from Hope, and Maxine handed Haiden to Hope.

Madeleine calmed down a bit once in Aiden's arms, and even let him feed her. Within a few seconds, she had stopped crying, and drank from her bottle as he sat in the chair with her.

"You're so good with her," Hope noted as she fed Haiden in bed. "I remember she also stopped crying when you held her right after she was born."

Aiden smiled down at his daughter, feeling his heart swell with love for her. "You love your daddy, don't you, Maddie?"

"I think she loves you more than she loves me. She always cries with me," Hope said.

Aiden looked at her. "She loves you too. She's just being a baby. Baby's cry; it's what they do. She hasn't even been on this earth for a full day. Give her a chance. She'll come around."

Hope sighed. "I suppose you're right." She then smiled down at Haiden, who was hungrily lapping up his bottle, his blue-green eyes meeting with hers.

Just then, there was a knock at the door. "Knock, knock!" Shawn said with a grin as he came into the room with a bouquet of pink and blue daisies. He set them down next to the bouquet Aiden had gotten her. "I know my bouquet looks dinky in comparison to that one, but I figured pink and blue daisies were nice since we're celebrating my new baby sister and brother!" Shawn said, grinning at Haiden, and then at Madeleine.

"They're perfect! Thank you, Honey," Hope said. She smiled as Shawn kissed her cheek. She kissed his cheek in return.

"This better be the last time you make me a big brother! You're getting way too old for this kind of thing," Shawn teased his mother. He took the other chair in the room.

Hope smirked. "Believe me, this is it! I didn't even plan to have these two, but accidents happen sometimes. I doubt one will happen again though. And I am so glad that this one did."

Shawn made a face. "Yeah, I don't want to talk about how they came to be, thank you. Not exactly what a son wants to think about when it comes to his mother."

Hope smirked. She finished feeding Haiden, and then gently burped him over her shoulder. "Do you want to hold him?" she asked Shawn once she had finished.

"Of course!" he said. He got up out of his chair and gently took Haiden in his arms, being careful to support Haiden's head.

He sat back down in the chair with him, and smiled down at his little brother. "Hi! I'm Shawn, your big brother! How do you like your first day in this world so far?"

Haiden closed his eyes, apparently feeling tired after his bottle.

Shawn laughed. "I hear ya! Don't worry. Life will get much more exciting once you get a little bit older." He leaned down and kissed Haiden's little cheek. He then looked up at Hope. "I remember Claire being this little. It seems like just yesterday. Where did the time go?"

"I wish I knew," Hope said.

"Would you like to hold Maddie?" Aiden asked Shawn. She too had just finished her bottle, and Aiden had finished burping her.

Shawn looked at him, acknowledging him for the first time since arriving. He grinned. "Sure!" He then looked from Hope to Aiden. "Who wants him?"

"I'll take him. I want to spend some more time with my son." Aiden replied. He carefully made the switch off with Shawn, giving Shawn Madeleine, and taking Haiden from him.

"Carful!" Hope warned, already feeling overprotective of her children.

"Relax, Mom. We've got this!" Shawn said with an eye roll.

Both Shawn and Aiden sat back down in their chairs then as they visited with the babies.

Madeleine started to cry the moment Shawn sat down with her.

"Oh, Maddie! What's wrong? Don't you want to visit with your big brother?" Shawn asked with a little pout.

"I'm glad it's not just me!" Hope nodded at her. "The only person she doesn't cry for is Aiden."

Shawn smiled at him. "She must love her daddy already."

Aiden grinned; practically beaming.

Shawn began to gently rock Madeleine, who cried herself to sleep in his arms.

Haiden was still sleeping as well.

"Let's just hope they sleep this easily when they're home!" Aiden said.

Hope smirked. "Don't count on it. In fact, don't plan on getting much sleep for the next year,"

"Yikes!" Aiden said.

"I can help out as much as I can, and Carol has nothing to do. I'm sure she would love to help as well," Shawn told them.

"I'm sure she will!" Aiden agreed. "She's matured a lot since coming back to Salem."

They had a nice conversation for a few minutes, and then Maxine came in to take the babies back to their cribs. "Don't worry. I'll bring them back in a little bit," she promised.

"Well, I better be getting back to work. I'm working the night shift tonight for Eddie, who's sick. I came on my break and I want enough time to pick up something to eat before my break is over," Shawn said, standing up once she was gone.

"Okay. "Be safe! And thank you for stopping by," Hope said.

Shawn walked over to her and they exchanged kisses on the cheek again. "Like I'd miss a chance to see my new baby sister and baby brother! "Plus, of course I wanted to make sure my mother was okay."He smiled at her. "I love you."

"I love you too," Hope said.

"Bye, Aiden," Shawn said, with a wave on the way out.  
"Bye, Shawn," Aiden said, waving back.

Hope yawned then. She was still feeling drowsy after all the work she had done giving birth to twins. She had also been given a pill for the pain, so that contributed a bit as well. Not to mention it was almost nine now.

"I'm going to let you sleep now," Aiden said, walking over to her. He pulled her blanket up to her shoulders and kissed her lips. "I love you more than words can express!"

"I love you too," she murmured, pulling him in for another kiss. "I can't wait to make love with you again once I have a little time to completely heal."

"Mm, baby, I'm counting the days, believe me," Aiden murmured as he gently stroked her hair. He kissed her forehead. "I'll see you in the morning."

He was about to leave, when Hope called out his name.

He stopped in the doorway and turned back to her. "Yes, my Love?"

"I know I said I wanted to wait a year before getting engaged, and I know it's only been a little over eight months since we officially got back together, but… I wouldn't be opposed to being engaged sooner. I already know you're the one I want to spend the rest of my life with. We're more ready now than we were the first time."

Aiden smiled at her. "Duly noted," he said with a grin before leaving the hospital room.

Hope grinned too, and then closed her eyes to finally get some sleep while she still could.

 _ **~*came back to me*~**_

The next day, Hope and the twins were ready to go home. Chase hadn't visited Hope or the twins in the hospital, but Hope wasn't really surprised. She certainly didn't expect them to suddenly be BFFs just because he had delivered the twins for her, as much as she had appreciated it.

Aiden was there to pick her and the twins up of course, bright and early.

It had taken an hour to get them home. It hadn't taken long to get to the hospital, but then they had to feed the twins one more time before they were to head home. Then, Kayla, Maxine, and several other nurses wanted to hold and coo over the babies.

Madeleine was turning out to be a fussy baby, but Haiden was very good so far. Aiden had barely heard him cry. He liked to sleep even more than Madeleine did.

They had to put the babies in their car seats, which had taken Aiden forever to put in before he had left for the hospital. He didn't remember them being that hard to put in when Chase was a baby, but now it seemed to take a rocket scientist to put them in. Chase had helped him, and he had finally gotten them in. He had wished Chase would have come to the hospital with him, but Chase didn't want to. Though, he had smiled the night before when Aiden had explained that he had named Madeleine after Chase's favorite Backstreet Boys song.

Anyway, they were home now, and Aiden helped carry the twins into the house.

As soon as they got in, Carol, Casey, Chase, Lucas, Jennifer, Shawn, Abigail, Roman, and Steve all popped out and yelled, "Surprise!"

Hope smiled big as she saw the _Welcome Home_ banner, and the pink and blue balloons that were all over the family room. The table behind the couch was filled with presents.

"There's a cake in the kitchen too," Carol told her with a wink. "Now let me see my niece and nephew! Don't worry. It was just a twenty-four-hour thing from bad sushi. I'm much better now." She reached for Madeleine first.

Maddie began to cry the moment she was taken from Aiden's arms.

"Oh, Maddie, don't cry!" Carol said, gently rocking her.

"Don't worry, Maddie. I want to cry to whenever I see her face too!" Aiden joked.

Carol shot him a look. "Ha ha…"

"It's okay. She only seems to like Aiden. She cries when everyone else holds her," Hope explained to Carol, and anyone else listening.

Aiden took Madeleine back. "I think she just needs a little nap." Madeleine stopped crying almost the moment she was back in Aiden's arms.

"See? She only wants her daddy," Hope said, an eyebrow raised.

Everyone awed.

"At least Haiden seems to love his Aunt Carol, don't you, Baby?" Carol asked as she gently rocked Haiden in her arms. He stared at her with his big blue green eyes in wonderment.

"You're such a handsome boy. You're lucky you didn't get your daddy's looks!" Carol said to him.

"Bitch," Aiden joked.

"Stop swearing in front of our babies!" Hope chastised. She smiled nonetheless. She then looked at the gifts. "You guys didn't have to get me anything. You already got me gifts at the baby shower!"

"Those were womb gifts. These are being born gifts," Jennifer quipped.

Hope smirked. "Well, thank you. All of you!" She hugged her cousin, and then went around the room hugging the rest of the guests.

"Kayla is sorry she couldn't be here, but she is working until dinner. She said she is going to bring you guys a meal over tonight once she's out of work," Steve explained.

"She's always too good to me!" Hope said.

"JJ is working too, but he sends his love, and is going to try to come and visit tomorrow," Jennifer explained.

"Tell him he's welcome any time," Hope said. She went to hug the next guest and realized it was Chase. She hesitated for a brief second, and then hugged him. "Thanks again for delivering the twins for me."

Chase hugged her back in surprise. "You're welcome."

Aiden smiled at the site, hoping that this was a good sign.

The rest of the party was fun, but after an hour, everyone left, knowing that Hope and Aiden would want some privacy. Chase went up to his room, and left them alone downstairs.

"Let's go put the twins down for their nap, then we can have some us time," Hope suggested.

Aiden kissed her. "I'd like that," he said with a smile.

Hope smiled too, and they went to put the twins to bed.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

Carol had gone home with Casey, and then told him she had a craving for rocky road ice cream, and wanted to go get some. He had offered to get it for her, but she had insisted on going herself. She wanted to get out again after being cooped in the house all day yesterday, she had told him.

So, she left, only she made a pit stop of the way to the store. She stopped at the Dimera mansion. She knocked on the door, and Harold answered.

"Hello Miss Jennings! It's such a pleasure."

Carol smiled. "Hello, Harold. Back at ya! I need to speak to Andre, please. Is he home?"

"He's in the parlor," Harold replied, letting her in.

She found Andre sitting on the couch, a scotch in his hand.

"I was _wondering_ if you were going to come over," he said dryly. "Care for a drink?"

Carol shook her head. "No thanks. I won't be long." Truthfully, she didn't trust a drink from him after she had dumped him for Casey. "I just wanted to come by and apologize for breaking up with you over the phone."

Andre stared at her blankly. "I told you I wouldn't take you back. Crawling back to me will do you no good."

"I'm not crawling back to you. I just thought it was a crappy thing to do to break up with you over the phone—and out of the blue at that! I just needed to prove to Casey that I'm serious about him." She blushed. "Sorry. I don't mean to rub it in. I'm just explaining why, I….well, you know."

Andre sipped his scotch again before speaking. "It's kind of ironic, isn't it? I found Casey so that he could give you his kidney and you could live. I loved you _that_ much. Now, my act of love is being used against me because you fell for the man I found to save your life. I guess I should have gone with a woman donor instead, huh?"

Carol looked away, blushing some more. "I'm a terrible person. I know, and I'm sorry."

Andre sighed. "Don't worry about it. I'm already over you."

Carol looked at him. She crossed her arms over her chest and raised an eyebrow. "Excuse me?"

Andre nodded. "I make it a habit to never fall too far in love with any woman. I've had lots of experience, and I've come to expect women leaving me in the dust. I guess my charm is just too much for a woman to handle."

"Sure…" Carol said, not sure if he was being sincere or not. "We'll go with that… So, you're not angry? You're not going to put a hit out on Casey or me?"

Andre rolled his eyes. "Oh, please! You're not that important. Anyway, Kate and I have started seeing each other again. At least _someone_ recognizes a good man when they see one!"

Carol smirked. "I'm very happy for the two of you. I meant what I said on the phone, Andre. I do think you're a great guy. You just need to learn to not go all gangster thug every time you can't get what or whom you want."

"I'm not going all, as you say, 'gangster thug' _now_ , am I?" he asked, still dryly.

Carol smirked. "No, you're not, and I'm proud of you for that."

Andre finished his scotch and yawned. "If we're done here, I have a date I need to be getting ready for, speaking of Kate."

Carol nodded. "We're done. Have a nice date with Kate." She smirked again, and then headed to leave.

"Oh, and Carol?" Andre asked.

She turned around. "Yes?"

"I hear Hope just had her babies. Please do send her my love and congratulations?"

"Uh… Sure. Thank you." Carol then left. "Yeah, she'll love _that_!" she said sarcastically under her breath as she got back into her car and took off for the store. " _Not_."

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

"I feel so fat. I need to get back to the gym ASAP. That is if I have any time," Hope said, placing her hands over her stomach as she sat down on the bed.

"Hey, I thought you were past that! Remember these? You felt beautiful!" Aiden brought over the baby book and showed her the pregnancy pictures from the professional shoot. Thankfully, he had gone back to the photographer the very next day after Chase had destroyed the originals. The photographer still had the negatives, and was able to give him another set, as well as a USB flash with the pictures on it so that in case anything was to happen to them again, they had a backup on the flash.

"That is different. I was pregnant with the twins. Now I have no excuse," Hope said as she ran her fingers gently over the pictures. She could hardly wait to add the baby pictures to the book!

"All right. I didn't want it to come to this, but you leave me with no choice!" Aiden said.

Hope raised an eyebrow at him. "What do you mean?"

Aiden sat down beside her, set the baby book aside, and then took her hands in his as he began to sing to her. "You are so beautiful to me…"

Hope giggled. "Aiden, what are you doing?"

He ignored her question, and continued singing. "You are so beautiful to me. Can't you see? You're everything I hope for. You're everything I need…"

Hope smiled big at Aiden. He wasn't the greatest singer, but he certainly wasn't the worst. Heck, he was a better singer than she was!

"You are so beautiful to me. You are so beautiful to me…"

Still smiling, Hope gently stroked his cheek.

"You are so beautiful to me. Can't you see? You're everything I hope for. You're everything I need. You are so beautiful to me," Aiden finished by kissing her softly on the lips.

She hungrily kissed him back, then rested her forehead against his and smiled. "I love you, Mr. Jennings. Thank you for always making me feel so beautiful even when I don't think I am."

"You're always beautiful to me, Baby," Aiden said to her, his eyes filled with love for her.

Before Hope could reply, one of the twins' cries came over the monitor.

They got up and headed to the nursery, then were shocked when they got to it and looked inside of it.

 _ **~*came back to me*~**_

Chase was standing over Madeleine's crib. Haiden was still sleeping peacefully, but Madeleine, as usual, was crying. Chase had his guitar in his hands, and he began to play a gentle tune—the tune Madeleine was named after. Then, he began to gently sing to her.

"Madeleine, what's up with those tears in your eyes…?"

Hope and Aiden watched in amazement as she slowly started to calm down. Chase continued to sing to her gently, lulling her to sleep little by little with the song.

"Hold on. Don't let go. Hold on, and you'll know help is on its way. So rise up, rise up, rise up, Madeleine. The sun will come out again. Rise up, rise up, rise up, Madeleine. The summer will come and kiss you with honestly, love you unconditionally, trust you and let you breathe, give you back your dignity, so rise up, rise up, rise and live again. 'Cause only you can, Madeleine."

Hope was surprised she was tearing up. She chalked it up to her hormones still being out of whack. "That is so sweet," she whispered to Aiden.

"I wish I could video tape this, but he'd be angry," Aiden whispered back.

Chase hadn't noticed them yet. He was too wrapped up in his music. "Let the sunshine warm your heart today… So rise up, rise up, rise up, Madeleine…"

Hope and Aiden stood back so he wouldn't notice them.

Chase sang until the end of the song, even though Madeleine was already sleeping. "Oh, oh… Oh, oh, oh… Madeleine."

Suddenly, Hope's phone rang.

She quickly ran to the bedroom before Chase could bust her. Aiden followed suit.

"Ciara! … Thank you, Baby. … This weekend? Uh… Sure. … Of course. I'm looking forward to seeing you too."

Aiden could tell all ready, this wasn't good news. They hadn't told Ciara about Chase yet.

After Hope was done talking with Ciara, and had hung up, she looked at Aiden with panic in her eyes. "She's coming home this weekend to see the twins! What are we going to do? She doesn't even know Chase is alive yet! I didn't feel I could tell her over the phone, or I would have told her now."

Aiden took her hand. "Don't worry. We'll figure it out." He kissed her hand.

Hope looked at him, worry in her eyes. She wished she could be as sure as he was, but she wasn't. Ciara was going to kill her! And then possibly Chase and Aiden as well…


	58. S3E8

_**This Love…**_

 _ **Season 3 Episode 8: A Conversation with God**_

"I'm buying everyone at work lunch today to celebrate the birth of my twins!" Aiden announced when he arrived at the office. Ciara was coming over that night, and he had been stressed because Hope had been stressed. She was driving herself crazy trying to think of ways to break it to Ciara that Chase was not only alive, but living with them as well. Aiden was sympathetic. He really was. But Ciara was an adult now, and he was sure she would handle this better than Hope thought she would.

" _We_ should be buying _you_ lunch to celebrate; not the other way around," Tiffany told him.

Aiden shook his head. "Nonsense! All new fathers give their friends something. I just choose to go the healthier rout and give out free lunches instead of free cigars."

Tiffany smirked. "It depends on what everybody orders for lunch. The way some of these people eat, I'd say the cigars are healthier!"

They both laughed.

"When's my next appointment?" Aiden then asked.

"In a half hour with Mr. Peterson. It's about making up his will," Tiffany replied.

"All right. Just call me when he's here," Aiden said to her before heading to his office.

"Will do," Tiffany agreed.

"Aiden then went to his office, shut the doors, sat down at his desk, and then called the private investigator he had hired. He hadn't even told Hope that he had hired one. The police weren't finding Jeremiah or Trevin, and that wasn't good enough for him. They needed to be found, and they needed to be punished. If he had to find them some other way than the police, then so be it.

"Hey," the private investigator who answered to "Davis" answered, knowing from caller ID that it was Aiden.

"Any new leads?" Aiden asked.

"I was going to call you, but I wanted to make sure I knew for certain that what I found is what I think it is," Davis replied. "There was a body found washed up along the Hudson Riverbank. It just happened earlier today. No one knows who he is yet, but I was able to get a picture of the body through one of my connections. The body fits the description on that Trevin kid. Seeing as your kid is the only one who saw what Trevin looks like, he is the only one who can make a positive identification. There are pictures of his father since he has done time in the past. But when the feds went to their house, there were absolutely no pictures of Trevin lying around. Weird, right? I mean, what kind of father doesn't have pictures of his kid lying around?"

Aiden felt half relieved, but half sick. On one hand, it would be nice to see justice done. On the other hand, if it was Trevin, the boy was near Chase's age. Even though Aiden was still mad as anything at Trevin for what he had done, he knew he couldn't hate the boy if he didn't hate Chase. After all, they had done the same thing; Trevin and Chase. Not that it was any excuse, but he knew Trevin didn't have the best childhood or best influences. He had been just as lost as Chase was. Then there was the fact that he was going to have to have Chase identify the photo. That wouldn't be easy for Chase, Aiden knew. But it had to be done.

Aiden sighed. "Can you please text me the picture so I can show it to my son?"

"Sure thing," Davis agreed. "I'll text you it as soon as we hang up. Just let me know either way, okay? I need to know if I should keep looking or not. If not, I can concentrate solely on finding Jeremiah. If I do, I'll continue to look for both."

"All right. I'll get back to you as soon as I can. Thank you."

They hung up, then, as promised, Davis texted Aiden the picture.

The boy looked purplish and blue from being in the water. He also appeared to have track marks on his arms.

Aiden shuttered. He did feel sorry for the kid, but at the same time, he was still angry as ever for what Trevin had done to his son. Still, that didn't actually mean he wanted him dead. As for Jeremiah, Aiden didn't care what happened to him as long as he paid for his crime. But Trevin was so young…

Aiden vowed to never let this happen to any of _his_ kids.

His next appointment arrived then, and he put his mind back on business.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

Hope paced the floor. She couldn't tell Ciara that Chase was alive _and_ tell her that he was living with them all in one setting. No. She would tell her he was alive. After all, she couldn't hide it for much longer. Ciara was bound to find out eventually. It was best to tell her now before she found out some other way. But the situation of him living with them was going to have to change even if it was just for the weekend. So, Hope called up the Salem Inn, and booked Chase a room for the three nights that Ciara would be staying with them. This way, they could just tell Ciara that Chase was living at the hotel until he was able to get into his own apartment.

Hope hadn't told Aiden about this yet, but she was sure he'd agree to it. After all, what was the big deal?

She went up to tell Chase of the arrangement. After all, Ciara would be there that night, and he needed to get going sooner rather than later.

She gently knocked on his bedroom door. "Chase, I have to tell you something," she said gently.

"It's open," he called out, which surprised her. Usually he'd snap at her.

She opened the door and came in, shutting the door behind her.

"What do you want?" Chase asked, sounding annoyed.

Now _that_ was the Chase Hope had grown to know. She knew she had to tread carefully. "Chase, as you know, Ciara is coming for a visit to see the twins this weekend. I haven't told her yet that you're still alive."

"That doesn't surprise me. Surely my dad must have told her though," Chase said dryly.

Hope shook her head. "I asked him not to."

"Well, she's going to find out tonight. Won't she?" Chase asked with a smirk that Hope wanted to smack off.

Hope remained calm. "That's just it. We're going to tell her tonight, but we don't want to overwhelm her by not only telling her that you're alive, but also that you're living with us."

"Well, she's kind of going to know when she sees me and my room," Chase noted. "I'm staying in Shawn's old room. I think she'll notice."

Hope looked away. "That's just it. I actually booked a three-night stay for you at the Salem Inn. As far as your room goes, I'm going to keep it locked, and just tell her I'm using it for storage for now."

"Does my dad know about this?" Chase asked; alarmed.

Hope shook her head. "No, but I'm sure he'll support me on this."

"That's just great. Thanks so much, Hope! Thanks for kicking me out of my own room because you're ashamed of me!" Chase said; angry now.

"Excuse me, but I have every right to be 'ashamed' of you after you raped my daughter!" Hope snapped, starting to lose her cool. "And let's not forget who owns this house, and more importantly, who owns your room! I was nice enough to give it to you in a time of need and now you won't even do me this little favor. Well, guess what? You don't have a choice! You're going to the Salem Inn. You're lucky I'm even paying for that!"

"You're never going to let this go that I raped Ciara. Are you?" Chase asked her, his arms crossed over his chest.

"Can you blame me? You took my daughter's innocence from her. How can I ever just overlook that?" Hope snapped.

"But I've changed! Gosh, you expect people to give you another chanced after _you_ screw up, and you expected them to give Rafe another chance. Heck, you expect anyone who is part of your family or close to your family to get another chance unless that person is me!" Chase snapped.

"Well you're still acting like an ungrateful little brat, so why should I ever give you anything? I don't think you've changed one bit except for changing for the worse!" Hope snapped.

Chase almost looked like he was going to cry, but then he didn't. "Fine!" He said. "You win. I'll go." He grabbed his suitcase from underneath his bed then went into his drawers to gather up his clothes to bring with him.

Hope held her head high. "Good. Thank you. Ciara isn't coming until later tonight, so when your father gets home, we can all have dinner together before he takes you over."

"Why don't _you_ just take me over?" Chase asked; annoyed.

"Because I still have things to do before Ciara gets here. Not to mention I can't leave the twins alone. I'm not going to have Carol come over for just a half hour to watch them. She has other things to do," Hope replied. "And before you ask, Carol is staying with Casey in his small apartment. You'll be more comfortable staying in a hotel than with them."

Chase shook his head. "No, I meant why couldn't you just take me now. But I forgot about the twins being here. Screw it, I'll take a cab. I'll just eat dinner at the hotel."

Hope sighed. "Fine. Whatever you want. I'm too tired and too busy to argue with you." The twins started crying then, so Hope went to attend to them. She didn't feel like attending to Chase anymore anyway.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

That evening, Aiden came home dreading showing Chase the picture, but knowing he had to do it. He greeted Hope with a kiss. "How's my beautiful girlfriend and mother of my children?" he asked.

Hope smiled weakly. "I'm fine. I'm exhausted, but fine."

"We need to get those nanny interviews done as soon as we can. You need the help. I could bring the twins to work, but I'm busy too, so we'd still need a nanny there," Aiden said.

Hope nodded. "And I plan on going back to work soon. October is usually our busiest month. Roman's going to need all the officers he can get."

"Maybe after Ciara leaves, we can start looking," Aiden suggested.

Hope nodded. "That's a good idea."

"Are the twins sleeping right now?"

Hope nodded. "They finally fell asleep, thank God."

"Good. Is Chase up in his room?" Aiden asked. "I have to go talk to him about something, and then I'll do any more work you need done. You worked hard enough as it is today. Let me finish while you rest."

"I appreciate that so much, but I think I have everything done already. Thank you though." Hope kissed Aiden lovingly. She then stroked some hair away from his face. "But there's something I need to tell you."

"Did the police find Jeremiah?" Aiden asked with hope.

Hope shook her head. "No, but they're still looking."

"Then what is it?" Aiden gently rubbed her back. "Is everything okay?"

"Sit down." Hope sat down on the couch and pated the seat beside her.

"This doesn't sound good," Aiden said as he sat down beside her.

"It's nothing bad. It's just that I asked Chase to stay at the Salem Inn for the next three nights so that Ciara doesn't know he's living with us." Hope bit her bottom lip, hoping that he wouldn't be angry. "I'm paying for it of course," she quickly added.

Aiden sighed. "I was actually going to suggest that myself."

Hope felt herself relax. "Really?"

Aiden nodded. "Really! Ciara's been through so much. I don't want to add so much stress on her at one time. This way we can slowly ease her into it."

Hope was so relieved that he wasn't mad that she grabbed him and kissed him passionately. "You're the best," she murmured.

He grinned. "I try."

They kissed some more, then he broke the kiss. "So, is he there all ready?"

Hope nodded. "Unfortunately he wasn't as open to the idea as you are. I told him he could at least stay for dinner, but he insisted on packing and leaving right then. He took a cab over."

"I'm sure you paid for it. How much do I owe you?" Aiden asked, starting to get out his wallet.

Hope put her hand over top of his to stop his. "Don't even worry about it. I'm the one that wanted him to stay. I don't mind paying."

"Well, why don't I go bring us something back for dinner?" Aiden suggested. "I should probably bring Chase something and talk to him before Ciara gets here anyway."

Hope nodded. "I can get some minor last minute things done while you do that."

"Baby, I told you I'd do anything you need me to do," Aiden reminded her.

"I don't mind, really. Like I said, they are just minor things like vacuuming her room and touching up the bathroom sink." She kissed him and smiled. "You go. I kind of like preparing for my daughter to come home anyway. I miss having her home sometimes."

"All right. If you're sure…" Aiden sounded unsure.

Hope nodded. "I'm sure. You go get us some dinner and visit your son, and when you get back we can eat."

"All right. I'll hurry in case the babies wake up," Aiden promised.

"Thank you," Hope said, looking at him with love in her eyes.

He kissed her once more, and then left to do what he had to do.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

Aiden texted Chase to see what his room number was. He had gotten him a new phone to thank him for delivering the twins.

Chase texted back his room number, then Aiden headed up.

Chase opened his door almost the second Aiden knocked. "Come in."

Aiden came in and handed him a bag from Mc. Donald's. "I got you your favorite. I just stopped at the gas station and got you a bottle of soda. I wanted something with a sealed top so that I could just put it in the bag with your food."

"Thanks," Chase said, taking the bag from him and sitting down at the table to eat.

Aiden sat down on the bed, and faced Chase.

Chase took out his double cheese burger and large fry. "So, did you tell Hope off for making me stay here? I can't believe she is so rude as to kick me out of my own room just because she's too chicken to tell her daughter that I live with you guys."

"Actually, Chase, I didn't tell her off. I don't think she is being too unreasonable. Yes, maybe she should have told Ciara earlier that you were alive, but she didn't. Now she'd have to tell her two things, and it might be too much for Ciara to handle all at once," Aiden said calmly.

Chase looked at him; annoyed. "Oh, come on, Dad! Tell me you're not taking her side. Ciara needs to get over it. I said I'm sorry, and I am. I would never ever do anything like that again. I was just going through a horrible time in my life, and though I still should have handled things better, I deserve forgiveness don't I?"

Aiden sighed. "Yes, Son, but you raped her. That's not something that a person can just forgive and forget. Maybe one day she'll forgive you, but something like that takes time."

"I get that, but it's been three years since the rape, and she's moved on and is happy now. Why can't she just forgive me?" Chase asked.

"Son, everyone heals at their own time. There's no set time restriction," Aiden said gently.

"Thanks for the dinner. You can go be with Hope and your kids now," Chase said bitterly.

Aiden sighed. "You're my kid too."

"You obviously don't love me as much as you love the twins. Hope's not my mother, so I'm not good enough for you," Chase snapped.

"Chase, that is not true and you know it! Stop lying to yourself!" Aiden snapped.

"Whatever," Chase grumbled.

Again, Aiden sighed as he took out his phone and brought up the picture of the dead boy in question. "I hired a private investigator to try and find Jeremiah and Trevin. The police found the dead body of a boy meeting Trevin's description washed up on the Hudson River."

Chase looked at him in surprise. "What?"

Aiden nodded. "I was sent a picture. I was hoping that maybe you could look at it and tell me if it's Trevin or not. But if you're not up for it, I totally understand."

Chase held out his hand. "Give it to me. Let me see it."

Aiden handed it to him.

Chase stared at it for the longest time, and then handed it back to Aiden. He didn't show any expression on his face. He just nodded. "That's him."

"Are you sure?" Aiden asked.

Chase nodded. "I'm positive. The corpse even has the same birthmark on his chest. It's him. Trust me."

Aiden put the picture away. "How do you feel about that, Son?" he asked softly.

"I feel like I need to be left alone, please," Chase said calmly.

Aiden nodded. "I understand. I'll stop by tomorrow. Have a good night." He got up and kissed the top of Chase's head, then gently smoothed Chase's hair out. He didn't care how old Chase got; he would still always be his little boy. Aiden hated to see him go through this.

He then left, knowing that his son needed time alone.

As soon as Aiden left, Chase threw himself down onto the bed and sobbed. Yes, he hated what Trevin had done to him, and for the longest time after the rape, he hated Trevin too. But now that Trevin was dead, Chase didn't hate him anymore. After all, Trevin had just been lost and lonely—just as he himself had been when he raped Ciara. Did he really have the right to judge or hate someone for doing something he had done himself?

Chase then did something then that he hadn't done since he was a kid—he prayed to God. He prayed for forgiveness of his own sins, and he prayed that God would have mercy on Trevin's soul. He also prayed that God would show him the way to gain Ciara's and everyone else's forgiveness.

When he ended the prayer, he lay down on the bed, and stared up at the ceiling. He then got to thinking. He hated Trevin until now when he found out Trevin was dead. Maybe if _he_ were dead, and if he wasn't a burden to anyone any longer, then he would be forgiven as well. It's not like he had anything to live for anyway. Sure he loved the twins, but they would probably just grow up hating him too once they were old enough to understand why their sister hated him. He was better off dead. Maybe then his debt would be paid for, and he would be forgiven.

"Please forgive me for what I'm about to do, God, but I really feel it's the only way," he said, looking Heavenward.

He knew what he had to do. He got up off the bed, and grabbed his wallet, for his father had given him a credit card that would be charged to Aiden's account. It was only to be used in emergencies, but Chase considered this an emergency.

Then, he headed downstairs to buy some razor blades. There was no other way out, he thought. It would be best this way.

 _ **~*came back to me*~**_

"There they are! My little baby twinsies!" Ciara said running over to her brother and sister the moment Shawn brought her to Hope and Aiden's.

She kissed Haiden's cheek, then Maddie's. "I'm your big sister!" she said to them. "You guys are so adorable I could just eat you!" She took Haiden first, hearing that Maddie was a crier.

Haiden looked into her eyes, and Ciara was instantly in love. She kissed his bald head. "I love you so much already!" She gently rocked him in her arms. He then let out a fart, and she wrinkled her nose. "And I see you're doing the job of being an obnoxious brother already!"

Shawn, Aiden, and Hope all laughed.

"Good boy, Haiden!" Shawn joked.

Ciara stuck her tongue out at Shawn, and then gave Haiden back to Hope.

She then went over to Aiden, who was holding Maddie. "Can I please hold you without you crying?" Ciara asked her gently. She carefully took her from Aiden's arms.

Madeleine started to fuss a little, but was too tired to full-on cry.

"Well, it's a start at least!" Ciara said with a smirk. She kissed her forehead. "You've got such pretty eyes and nice long lashes!" she said.

"Just like her mama!" Aiden gushed.

Hope pushed some hair behind her ear, smiled, and blushed.

Shawn then excused himself to go to the bathroom, and then he had to make a call.

"Can I see the nursery?" Ciara asked.

"Yes! We got them up special to meet you, so I'm sure they're both ready to go back to sleep now," Hope told her.

"After a changing I think. This one's starting to smell too," Ciara quipped.

Hope laughed. "The joys of having babies..." She winked at Ciara. "You know, you could have brought Skylar with you."

"I appreciate that, Mom. Skylar had to work though. But she sends her love and promises to come down next time." Ciara handed Maddie back to Aiden. "She loves you. You can change her."

"Gee, thanks!" Aiden said, though he really didn't mind. He loved his new babies so much he felt as if his heart would burst! "At least I don't have to worry about this one peeing all over me. Isn't that right, Maddie?" he asked Madeleine in a baby voice.

Madeline gurgled in response.

After they got the twins changed, they all put them back in their cribs. The twins were already sleeping at that point.

They then all headed back downstairs to the living room to talk.

Hope sat next to Ciara on the couch, and Aiden sat to their left on the recliner.

"So, Ciara, I don't know when exactly is a good time to tell you this, so I'm just going to come out and tell you this now," Hope began.

Ciara's face paled. "Is it bad?"

Hope shook her head. "No. Nothing's wrong. Well, I hope you won't think anything is wrong with what I tell you."

"What is it?" Ciara asked, an eyebrow raised a la Hope.

Hope sighed. "Chase is alive."

Ciara scrunched her eyebrows in confusion. "Wait. What? How?"

Aiden and Hope then took turns explain what had happened to Chase.

When they finished, Ciara was stunned to say the least. "Wow. So… He got raped too?"

Hope nodded. "Sadly, yes. He did."

"I never really think about guys getting raped too, but apparently, they do," Ciara said simply. She slowly turned to Aiden. "Congrats on your son not being dead. I'm not his biggest fan, but I certainly wouldn't have wished death upon him, and I don't wish rape on him either. No one deserves to be raped no matter what they did. I wouldn't wish it on anyone. Not even Chase."

It warmed Aiden's heart to hear her say that. "Thank you, Ciara. That really means a lot to me."

Ciara shrugged. "I'm just stating the truth."

Hope smiled. Her daughter was becoming such a grown up and mature woman! She was so proud of her! She really hoped in time that both she and Ciara could forgive Chase eventually. But for now, being civil to him would have to do.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

Chase didn't know why people always chose to slit their wrists in bathtubs. It seemed so clichéd. It wasn't like it really kept the blood off the floor. At least in the television and movies he saw, they always had their wrists dangling over the sides of the tub anyway. However, he knew it would make an even bigger mess if he did it anywhere else. So, for the sake of the maids, he filled the tub with lukewarm water, then turned off the water and got in.

He texted his dad first. He supposed he at least owed him that.

 _Dad, I'm sorry I'm such a disappointment to you. I'm sorry for what I did to Ciara. I'm sorry for being rude to Hope. I'm sorry for anything hurtful I ever said to you. Things are better this way. You're better off in a world without me in it. Everyone is. With me gone, at least I'll never be able to hurt anyone ever again. Please tell Hope and Ciara that I'm sorry. And please tell the twins about me when they're older. Maybe leave out the bad parts? Please tell them I love them. I love you. I know they'll never believe it, but I love Hope and Ciara too. Goodbye, Dad. Thank you for all you did for me. Please don't blame yourself. Everything is all on me. –Chase._

Chase reread his text, then sent it. Then, with shaky hands, he took the razor blade. He closed his eyes then just did it. First he slit the left. He cried out in pain. Then he slit the right. He winced, and then dropped the blade in the tub. He made sure to keep his wrists in the tub so as not to make a mess like on TV. He then closed his eyes, and waited for death to take him.

 _ **~*came back to me*~**_

Hope, Aiden, Shawn, and Ciara were all playing Sequence—Hope and Aiden against Shawn and Ciara—when Aiden got a text. He saw it was Chase, and opened it up.

His face paled as he read the text.

"What is it? What's wrong?" Hope asked with concern. She placed a hand over Aiden's shoulder.

Aiden looked at her, his face white as a ghost's. "I just got a text from Chase. I think he's going to try to end his life!"

"What?" Hope stood up. "I'll call 911! You call the hotel."

Aiden stood up, his fingers already dialing the hotel.

"Can I help?" Ciara asked once they were both off the phone.

"Can you please stay with the twins while we head over to the hotel?" Hoped asked.

Ciara nodded. "Of course!"

"I'll stay with her," Shawn added.

"Thank you!" Hope said.

Aiden was already out the door, and she headed out after him, praying they weren't too late.

 _ **~*came back to me*~**_

There was a bright light. Chase was relieved. He was half expecting to go to hell.

"God?" he cried out, hoping that this wasn't just some trick.

"Chase…" It was the kindest, most pleasant voice he had ever heard. He suddenly felt so at peace. It was as if nothing even mattered anymore.

"Am I in Heaven?" Chase asked.

"Chase, it's not your time…" the voice said.

"I'm sorry, God. I know killing yourself is wrong, but I'm not meant for the world. Trust me. The world is better off without me. All I do is hurt people down there," Chase said.

"Trust _Me_ , Chase. Your time on earth is far from over. I know you're feeling down, but I am always with you. No more running from your problems, Chase. It's time to face up to them."

Chase wanted to ask God what He meant, but then he felt himself sinking downward.

He passed through the clouds, and he was sure he was going to hell. He was sure that God had changed His mind about him, and was sending him down to hell where he belonged. But he still felt too peaceful to be heading to hell. Then, he felt nothing as all as everything faded to black.


	59. S3E9

_**This Love…**_

 _ **Season 3 Episode 9: The Sun Is Always Blinding Me**_

When Hope and Aiden got to Chase's hotel room, the door was partially open.

They both ran into the hotel room and saw that the manager was already there along with hotel security. They were in the bathroom and had towels wrapped tightly around his wrists. There was blood everywhere in the tub, and Aiden nearly passed out.

Hope, being more used to seeing that kind of thing due to her line of work, immediately took action. "Is he still alive?" she asked, walking over to security. She flashed her badge, which she always kept in her purse. "Salem PD."

He nodded. "Once his father called us, we headed straight up and unlocked the door. We found him passed out in the tub, his wrists slit and pouring blood. We checked and he still has a pulse, so we managed to get his wrists bandaged up. We added the towels tied around them for extra protection. The paramedics are on their way."

Hope nodded. "I know. I called them too." She looked at Chase. He was out cold. His face was pale, and his eyes were puffy and red as if he had been crying before he… She looked away; not wanting to think about it.

She looked over and saw that Aiden wasn't there. "Aiden?" She headed out of the bathroom and found him sitting on the bed, sobbing into his hands.

Her expression softened, and she sat down on the bed next to him, placing a hand over his back. She didn't know what to say. She wanted to tell him that Chase would be all right, but she honestly didn't know if that was true or not, and she didn't want to give him false hope.

"I failed him as a father. I should have stayed here with him so that he knew I loved him too and not just you and the twins," Aiden said tearfully, his face still in his hands.

"Aiden, you are a wonderful father and Chase knows it! Come here." She took him into her arms and gently rubbed his back. "You can't blame yourself. No one can possibly be there for their child _all_ the time. Chase knows that too. We can't always be there when they get hurt. It's out of our control. But we can be there for them after the fact, just as I know you will be here for Chase, praying for him, and trusting in God that he will survive this."

Aiden looked at her, his eyes red, and still damp with tears. "I can't get through this without you," he said sadly.

She rubbed his back again. "You don't have to." She took his hand and squeezed it. "I'm not going to leave your side."

He squeezed her hand in return and kissed it.

The paramedics came in then, and instantly got to work doing what they had to do to save Chase. They kept the bandages and towels on for now, knowing that having them tightly bound was exactly what was needed until they were able to get him to the hospital.

"I know I said I wouldn't leave your side, but I also know you want to go with Chase. You ride along in the ambulance, and I'll take the car and meet up with you as soon as we get there. Okay?" Hope asked Aiden gently as she gave his hand another squeeze.

Aiden nodded. "All right. Thank you." He kissed her lovingly on the lips, and gently stroked her hair, and then he got up and stayed close behind Chase and the paramedics as they headed out to the ambulance to head to the hospital.

Hope talked to the security once more very briefly, affirming that it was a suicide attempt. Then, she headed out as quickly as she could to get into her car and get to the hospital to be with Aiden and Chase. She called Ciara and Shawn on her Bluetooth along the way to let them know what was going on. They agreed to stay with the twins for as long as she needed them to. She was grateful, for Aiden was going to need her now more than ever right now. So was Chase, whom, she was surprise to realized, she _wanted_ to be there for.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

"Where is he? Is he all right?" Carol asked as she rushed into the hospital waiting room and saw Aiden sitting on the waiting room's couch, his face buried in his hands. Hope was sitting next to him, gently rubbing his back.

Aiden looked up at his sister, his eyes red from crying. "I haven't heard anything yet. They wouldn't let me go in. They're working on him now."

"Why did he try to kill himself?" Carol asked quietly. She sat down in the chair closest to Aiden's side of the couch. "Is it because of what happened to him?"

Aiden shrugged. "I don't know. Probably. I think a big part of it is also because he doesn't feel loved. He told me in so many words that he didn't think I loved him as much as I love the twins because Hope isn't his mother like she's the twins' mother."

"He's got to know that's not true!" Carol said.

Hope nodded. "That's what I told him, but he still feels guilty."

"Well, you shouldn't feel guilty! You're just excited to be a father again. It's _normal_. I know you care just as much about Chase, and you are heartbroken about what happened to him. You can't possibly care for all your children's' individual needs all at the same time. Chase should understand that," Carol said.

Aiden shrugged. "Apparently, he doesn't. He was hurt when he was asked to stay at a hotel room instead of the house because of Ciara. I just brushed off his feelings."

Carol shrugged too. "Well, like it or not, he did rape her, and he has to deal with the consequences. I know it sounds harsh, but he's just going to have to learn that rape isn't something you can just put a band aid on and say you're sorry about it."

Aiden nodded. "I know that, and he knows it too. He's just impatient for forgiveness because he feels like the whole world is against him no matter how much he apologizes, and no matter how sorry he is for doing it."

"We should have made sure he went to a psychiatrist again. He needs help. I know we can't force him ourselves since he's an adult, but now that he attempted suicide, the state may force him to stay here and get help," Hope spoke up. She didn't like weighing in on her daughter's rape with Aiden and Carol since they were going to be slightly bias to Chase, but she was grateful they didn't just want to sweep this under the rug.

"That is if he survives," Aiden said, sniffling as the tears started welling up in his eyes again.

"Don't say that! God wouldn't give him back to you only to take him away from you again," Hope gently soothed.

Aiden looked at her. "That's not always the case. I'm sure you've seen your share of loss as a cop. Sometimes this world is just a messed up place with a sick sense of humor."

"Aiden…" Hope trailed off as Kayla appeared.

"Good news!" Kayla said with a smile. "Thankfully, Chase didn't cut his wrists in a fatal way. We were able to get him stitched up nicely, and re-bandaged. He might have a couple of small scars, but he will make it. He is now on suicide watch, however, so he's going to have to stay in the hospital for a minimum of seventy-two hours. After that, he will be reevaluated, and we will go from there."

"Thank God!" Aiden almost cried again, only this time from happiness.

"See?" Hope said gently, smiling at him and gently rubbing his back again. "I told you he'd be okay." She looked at Kayla. "So he'll heal up nicely other than a couple small scars?"

Kayla nodded. "But he's going to have to keep his bandages on for a week to prevent further irritation, and to let his wrists heal. Obviously, emotionally is an entirely different story."

"Can I go see him?" Aiden asked.

"Of course. But please only one visitor at a time. I don't want to overwhelm him. And don't stay long. He has to get some rest so his body can heal properly," Kayla instructed.

"All right. Thank you," Aiden agreed. He took Hope's hand and kissed it. "I won't be long."

"I'll be right here," Hope said. She kissed his hand as well, and then he left to go see his son.

"Sorry it took me so long. I couldn't find a place to park. At this hour, that's crazy!" Casey said, coming into the waiting room. "Is he all right?"

Carol quickly explained to him what Kayla had just told them.

"Well, thank God he's going to be all right!" Casey sat down next to Carol. "He needs help. Next time he may not be so lucky."

Hope nodded. "I agree." She raised an eyebrow. "It's getting him to cooperate that's going to be the problem."

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

"You had us all scared there, Son. What were you thinking?" Aiden asked as he sat down next to his son and held his hand.

Chase looked him in the eyes. "I was thinking that maybe Hope and Ciara would forgive me if I were dead—just like I forgave Trevin only after he died." He looked away. "Plus I figured things would be easier for you and Hope without me." He looked at Aiden. "You clearly care more about your children with her. You also care more about Hope than you do about me."

"How can you say that? After all you and I have been through together, you should know that's not true! You are just as much my life as Hope and the twins are! If anything were to ever happen to you…" Aiden started tearing up at the thought. He squeezed Chase's hand. "If you died, a part of me would die too. I'd never get over it despite what you think."

"You got over it when you thought I was dead the first time," Chase said simply. "You got back together with Hope and made two new kids with her, including a new son."

"It wasn't to get over you. It wasn't even planned! It just happened. Chase, believe me when I tell you my heart ached every day for you, even during the times I was at my happiness. I was never fully happy without you—not even with Hope, and not even with her having been pregnant with her and my twins," Aiden assured him.

"Nobody even wants me around. I'm a big screw up. Look!" Chase held up his bandaged wrists. "I can't even kill myself right!"

"First off, I love you. Carol loves you. Heck, even Casey loves you." He motioned behind him with his thumb. "They are both out there now just as worried as I am about you. And thank _God_ you couldn't kill yourself right!" Aiden kissed Chase's wrist over the bandage. "Please promise me you'll never do anything like this ever again. I can't lose you again."

"Whatever," Chase muttered.

"Chase!" Aiden scolded. "Promise me!"

"All right! I promise not to kill myself. Happy?" Chase snapped.

"I will be once you agree to talk to someone," Aiden said carefully.

Chase looked him in the eyes. "Like a shrink? No thanks! I'm sure Marlena hates me just as much as Hope and Ciara do."

"Hope and Ciara don't hate you. Ciara wasn't even angry when she found out you were alive. She didn't think you deserved to be raped either," Aiden confessed.

Chase sat up straighter. "You told her? Gee, thanks! So much for my privacy!"

"I'm sorry, but it kind of went hand-in-hand with telling her you're alive," Aiden replied.

"You didn't have to tell her the part where I was raped!" Chase grumbled.

"Well, she's sorry you were raped," Aiden reiterated.

Chase snorted. "I bet!" he said sarcastically.

"She is!" Aiden insisted. "We all just want you to get better. Marlena doesn't have to be your psychiatrist. She isn't the only psychiatrist in Salem, you know." He winked at Chase and smiled.

Chase shrugged. "You could have fooled me."

"I can fly your psychiatrist in from back home if you'd like," Aiden offered.

"I told you I don't want to see a psychiatrist!" Chase snapped.

"Well, you may have no choice after trying to kill yourself. I'm just trying to help you find the right one," Aiden said, losing his patience just a little.

"Save your breath! They'll have to get a court order if they want me to see one!" Chase snapped. He crossed his arms over his chest. "Are we done here?" he asked coldly, looking at Aiden just as coldly as his tone.

"For now," Aiden said. "Please, just think about it. For me?"

"I'll think about it, but I'm not promising anything," Chase said.

Aiden nodded, and then left the room.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

"How did it go?" Hope asked, taking Aiden into her arms.

Aiden sighed. "Not good. He says we'll have to get a court order if we want him to see a psychiatrist." He looked her in the eyes, tears filling his own eyes. "I don't even recognize him anymore, Hope! It's almost like he's not the same son I had before he supposedly died the first time. It feels like a part of him really did die."

"It's all right. We'll get him help. I promise." Hope held him tighter, tears in her own eyes, seeing Aiden so sad. She kissed him lovingly, and gently pressed her forehead against his. "I love you. We'll get through this together, all right?"

Aiden nodded. "I love you too. Thank you. I couldn't do this without you." He kissed her.

"Do you mind if I got see him now?" Carol asked, after clearing her throat.

Aiden turned to her. "Go ahead. "But I'll warn you, he's in a mood."

"I'll tread lightly and stay away from the word psychiatrist," she said before heading in to see her nephew.

"I have to tell you something," Aiden then said to Hope.

Hope sighed. "What?" She still got nervous when he had to tell her things. She guessed a part of her was still nervous from when he used to keep secrets from her.

"I hired a private investigator to try to find Jeremiah and Trevin since I didn't think the Salem PD was doing a good enough job," Aiden confessed.

Hope raised an eyebrow. "Oh? And how long has he or she been searching?"

"He's been searching for a few weeks now," Aiden confessed. "I didn't want to tell you until I knew if he found anything or not."

"And did he?" Hope asked, raising her eyebrow again.

Aiden nodded. "He found a boy washed up along the Hudson River…dead. He had track marks on his arms. I don't know if it was a drug deal gone wrong or an overdose. Anyway, they needed Chase to confirm it was Trevin since there were no pictures of Trevin in his and Jeremiah's house."

"So you had Chase indentify him?" Hope asked; surprised.

Aiden nodded. "My PI sent me a picture, and I showed it to Chase at the hotel room. He was able to confirm it was Trevin. Chase said the boy had the same birthmark as Trevin so there's no mistaking it's him. Chase told me that he tried to commit suicide because, since he was able to forgive Trevin only after finding out Trevin was dead, he figured if he were dead, then you and Ciara would be able to forgive _him_. He also thought I love you and the twins more than him."

"I don't even know what to say to that," Hope said gently. Her expression was unreadable. "I'm sorry he felt that way. It's not entirely true that I'd only forgive him if he were dead. I think in time, if Ciara can, I can forgive him too. He doesn't have to be dead for that. And he should know how much your world revolves around him. You love him just as much and the twins and me! Can't he see that?"

Aiden shrugged. "I told him that, but I'm not sure he believes me."

Hope sighed. "Well, thank you for being honest with me. If you'll excuse me, I have to call Roman and tell him that Chase was able to identify Trevin. I know how hard that must have been for both you and Chase, and I am so sorry for that." Hope held Aiden tightly again. "Just promise you'll tell me right away next time. You know I don't like secrets—even temporary secrets."

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you right away. I just didn't want to offend you since you're part of the Salem PD," Aiden said, holding her in return.

"It's all right just this once." Hope looked him in the eyes. "But that is it. No more secrets, all right? Even if you're worried about offending me."

"No more secrets, I promise," Aiden assured her.

She nodded. "Good! Thank you." She kissed him softly on the lips. "I'll be back in a minute." She then left to make her call while Aiden watched her walking away to make it.

Aiden sighed, feeling so much love in his heart for her. He was one lucky man, he knew. He then spotted Father Louis, and got an idea.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

"Father Lewis! Hey, remember me" Aiden asked, walking over to Father Lewis and extending his hand to him. Father Lewis had just come into the waiting room.

Father Lewis looked at him and thought for a moment. "Aiden Jennings, right?"

Aiden grinned. "That would be me! I'm sure you haven't heard a hundred percent great things about me, but I assure you I'm a changed man now."

"Oh, Aiden, I've been out of the loop for so long now. I had moved to Florida, but actually missed Salem, so I only recently moved back. Anyway, it doesn't matter. We all sin and fall short of the glory of God. Who am I to judge?" Father Lewis asked.

Aiden nodded. "I'm glad to hear you say that. My son is going through some tough times and he tried to commit suicide tonight. He refuses to talk to a psychiatrist, but I was thinking he might talk with you since you're a man of God and all. Do you think you could talk to him for just a moment? Maybe just give him some reassuring words, or even pray for him? I'd greatly appreciate it."

Father Lewis looked somber. "I just came from the chapel where I prayed for all the patients. I like to do that from time to time. I even stop by to visit the patience and take prayer requests, so of course I'll visit Chase! I'm so sorry to hear he's going through hard times. I remember he was always such a sweet little boy."

Aiden nodded. "He still is. He's just a little older now. He's right over there." He pointed to Chase's room. "Thank you so much for this."

"Don't mention it. It's what I do," Father Lewis said with a smile. He then headed to Chase's room to visit him as Aiden had asked.

Carol had just come out, so it was perfect timing.

"Is that Father Lewis I just saw going into Chase's room?" Hope asked, suddenly appearing behind Aiden, having just finished her phone call.

Aiden nodded. "He was here praying for the patients, and I asked him to talk to Chase. I figured Chase might be a little more open to talking to a priest than he is a psychiatrist," he explained.

"Well," Hope said, an eyebrow raised, "it's worth a shot!"

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

Father Lewis gently knocked on Chase's already open door. "Knock, knock!" he said, coming in without waiting for Chase to invite him in.

"With all due respect, Father, if you're here to read me my last rights, you've been misinformed. The doc says I'm going to make it," Chase muttered.

Father Lewis smiled. "I'm just here to pray for you and to give you some words of encouragement," he said, walking over to stand at his bedside.

"Thanks, but I don't feel very encouraged at the moment," Chase muttered.

Father Lewis sat down in the chair beside Chase's bed. "We all have those days, but we must remember that God has a plan for all of us. We just need to trust in Him."

"Yeah, well I'm pretty sure God has given up on me," Chase said.

Father Lewis shook his head. "Nonsense! God never gives up on anyone unless we utterly refuse to believe in Him. We all sin and fall short of the glory of God, but that is what Jesus died for. He died to take away our sins."

"Yeah, well, I'm pretty sure raping my childhood best friend turned step-sister is beyond the definition of sin," Chase muttered.

Father Lewis looked shocked.

Chase nodded. "That's right. But that's not all. I not only raped Ciara, but I got raped myself. I guess God made sure I really got what was coming to me, huh?"

Father Lewis was silent for a moment as he took in everything that Chase had just revealed to him. Then he gently spoke. "I'm sorry that happened to you."

Chase shrugged. "Don't worry. Trevin (the guy that raped me) is dead now. They just found him washed up from the Hudson River. I guess he got what was coming to him—just like I did. Just like I still am."

Father Lewis sighed. "If you are truly remorseful for what you did, then God forgives you. God doesn't work that way. He didn't make sure you got raped just because you raped Ciara no more than he made sure Trevin got killed for raping _you_."

Chase snorted. "Yeah, well you could have fooled me. Me getting raped after I raped someone is too much of a coincidence. And you know what they say; there are no coincidences with God. At least, that's what I always heard at school as a kid."

Father Lewis smiled. "Bad things do not come from God. But he uses them for good."

"Yes, he used Trevin's rapist tendencies to rape me. He used bad for good. To pay me back. And eye for an eye type of thing," Chase agreed.

Father Lewis sighed. "That's not what I meant at all. Don't let your emotions distract you or blind you from the truth. I see it as the rape happened because bad things happen sometime. God gives us free-will, and being fallible beings, that means people are sometimes going to do bad things, and therefore bad things are going to happen in this world. It's how we react to them that defines us. He never wanted Trevin to rape you, but since he did, God figured He might as well use it for good. If it made you feel remorse for what you did to Ciara, it's a _result_ of the rape—not the other way around. You weren't raped so you'd feel remorse."

"Regardless, everybody hates me for what I did to Ciara. In Salem, no one forgives anyone unless they are a Brady, a Horton, a Johnson, or a Hernandez—none of which I am. I'm just a nobody that no one wants around." Chase looked down at his blankets, instantly wishing that God had accepted his suicide attempt.

"Don't ever say that. No matter what you do, God loves you. Jesus loves you too," Father Lewis reminded him.

"Please excuse me if I don't start singing "Kumbaya." Chase looked at Father Lewis. "No offense. It's just, what is God's and Jesus' love going to do for me on earth?"

Father Lewis chuckled. "More than you know, Chase. Anyway, I know for a fact that your father loves you very much. You have a few other people out there who are pretty torn up about you being in here as well. Don't count yourself out yet!" He winked at Chase and smiled.

"I already asked God and Jesus to forgive me. Now how do I get Ciara to forgive me?" Chase asked. "And Hope?"

"You have to start being honest with them," Father Lewis said simply. "Tell them how you feel instead of lashing out all the time. And I really think it would help you to talk to someone. You can't keep going on like you are, Chase. Killing yourself is never the answer, and it's not trusting in God."

"Everybody wants me to talk to someone, but no one wants to talk to me themselves. I'm just pawned off on someone else so that no one else has to deal with me," Chase said bitterly. "What's a shrink going to do for me anyway? They don't know me or care about me. They only care about the money they get for helping me."

"I beg to differ. They _do_ care. That's why they got into that particular profession. But, how about this? If you don't want to see a psychiatrist, you can talk to me in my office, or wherever you'd like." Father Lewis suggested.

"I guess I would feel more comfortable with you. I know you, and I know you actually do care," Chase began.

Father Lewis nodded. "I wouldn't have offered if I didn't!"

"I guess it would be nice to get people off my case about talking to someone… All right. I'll do it," Chase agreed.

Father Lewis took out his phone. "What is your number? I can call you when you're out of the hospital, and we'll set up a time and place."

Chase told him his number, and Father Lewis typed the info into his phone. "Thank you, Chase. One last thing. Do you mind if I pray with you before I leave?"

Chase shrugged. "I wouldn't know what to say."

"Let me do the praying, and maybe next time you can pray," Father Lewis suggested with a twinkle in his eye and a smile.

Chase nodded. "All right."

They prayed together, and then said their goodbyes. Aiden, Hope, Carol, and Casey had already left the hospital.

Chase then rolled over to his side and tried to get some sleep. He thought about what Father Lewis had said.

 _You have to start being honest with them._

As Chase slowly started drifting off to sleep, he knew what he had to do.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

The next day, Chase called his father and asked him to come to the hospital with Hope and Ciara. Aiden thought it was an odd request, but he said he'd try his best to get Ciara there.

Now, Chase smiled as through the window, he saw everyone coming into the hospital lobby. They walked straight ahead into his room.

"Good morning, Son! How did you sleep last night?" Aiden asked him cheerily even though he had already asked over the phone.

"Fine, thanks." Chase looked at Hope, and then at Ciara. "Hope, Ciara, thank you for coming."

Hope smiled weakly. "Sure."

"So, what do you want?" Ciara asked in neither an unfriendly nor a friendly tone. It was just a curious tone.

"I was talking to Father Lewis, and he told me that in order to help get your forgiveness, I need to be open and honest with you all."

"And?" Ciara asked, now sounding slightly annoyed.

"Well, I want you to know that your mother, Aiden, and I have all been hiding something from you," Chase began.

Hope's eyes widened. "Chase…" she warned.

"Chase, I don't think that's what father Lewis meant," Aiden began.

But it was too late. Ciara crossed her arms over her chest and looked from her mother to Aiden, to back to her mother. "Mom, what is he talking about?"

"He's talking about the fact that they found out the boy who raped him is dead," Hope said quickly, trying to cover up.

"That's not what I meant," Chase said, insistent on telling them what he had called them there to tell them.

"Chase, now is not the place or time," Aiden warned.

"Then when will be, Dad? You of all people should know how lies and covering up things only leads to trouble." He then turned to Ciara. "Ciara, I'm not trying to upset you, but you deserve to know this."

"What is it?" Ciara asked, her eyes locked with his.

Chase sighed. "I've been living with your mother and my dad for over two months now—ever since I got back from where I was taken."

Ciara was quiet for a moment, and then whipped around to face her mother. "Mom, is this true?"

Hope hesitated, and then slowly nodded. She looked down at the floor. "Yes," She said in almost a whisper.

"My room is Shawn's old room. It's not really being used for storage," Chase added.

Ciara glared at Hope. "I don't believe you! Since when do you start lying to me, Mom?"

Hope looked at her. Tears in her eyes. "I'm sorry! I was just trying to protect you!"

"If you really cared about protecting me, then you wouldn't have him living with you in the first place!" Ciara then, with tears of her own in her eyes, stormed out of the hospital room, and down the elevator.

Hope then angrily whipped around to face Chase. "You're a monster! You just _had_ to tell her, didn't you, you little brat?"

"Hope, come on now! He was just listening to what he thought Father Lewis told him to do!" Aiden reasoned.

Hope glared at him. "This is all _your_ fault! You should have never asked me to take him in!"

Aiden's mouth dropped open in surprise. "Hope, I—"

"You know what? Save it! I have to go find Ciara." Hope then took off out of the room, and toward the elevator herself.

Aiden glanced at Chase. "We'll talk about this later!" He then raced after Hope.

Chase stared at the now empty doorway with tears in his eyes. "Well _that_ went well!" he said sarcastically.

He then buried his face in his pillow. Why did he always let his emotions get the best of him? he wondered. And why and how did he always get things so wrong?


	60. S3E10

_**This Love…**_

 _ **Season 3 Episode 10: Listen All You People**_

"Ciara, please talk to me," Hope called from the other side of Ciara's bedroom. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you about Chase. I didn't want to have to tell you both things at once. I didn't think you'd be able to handle it all at once."

Ciara swung the door open angrily. "I'm not five, Mom. I can handle more than you give me credit for. The fact that you hid this from me hurts more than you letting him stay here."

Hope sighed. "I'm sorry, Baby. I know you're not five. I just didn't think you'd like Chase living here. I thought you'd be upset."

"Then why did you let him live here?" Ciara asked.

Hope shrugged. "I don't know! I guess I just didn't want to let Aiden down."

"So you decided it was okay to let me down instead. Screw how your daughter feels just so long as your boyfriend's happy. Right?" Ciara asked angrily.

Hope had tears in her eyes. "I messed up. I'm so sorry, Baby. Please don't be angry with me!"

Ciara's expression softened. "I'm just upset that the only person who had the guts to tell me the truth was Chase." She went back into her room and sat down on her bed, facing Hope. "Look, I still hate what he did to me, but I get it. You want Aiden to be happy, and Chase really didn't have anywhere else to go. I'm not living here anymore, so you didn't see the harm."

Hope nodded. "Exactly!"

Ciara sighed. "It just hurts me that you still treat me like I'm a fragile little butterfly wing. I'm, tired of being treated like a kid. I'm not a kid anymore, Mom! I'm living on my own with a serious girlfriend in California. I'm in veterinary school, and pretty soon I'll be a veterinarian. What else do I have to do to prove myself grown up to you?"

Hope entered the room and sat down beside her. She placed an arm around her and rested her head against the side of Ciara's head. "Nothing. I know you're all grown up now. It's just the motherly instinct in me that wants to still protect you at all costs."

Ciara looked at her. "I appreciate that, Mom, I really do, but you don't have to anymore. The best thing you can do for me is give it to me straight from now on. All right? You didn't like when Aiden hid stuff from you. I don't like when you hide stuff from me. Granted, what you hid was minor to the stuff he hid, but still… It's the same concept."

Hope nodded. "Duly noted. I promise to do better from now on. I'll see to it that Chase finds his own place."

Ciara shook her head. "No, Mom. He tried to commit suicide. He needs his dad right now. He can stay here. I'm still angry with him, but I'm not heartless. I know what he's going through. Right now he needs his Dad more than ever."

Hope had tears in her eyes as she looked at Ciara. "You really are all grown up, aren't you?"

Ciara nodded. She then smiled, and rested her head on her mother's shoulder. "Don't worry, Mom. No matter how old I get, even though I don't want you hiding stuff from me anymore, I'm still always going to need my mom."

"Good to know!" Hope said with a laugh between tears. "I'm so proud of the woman you've become! Your father would be too."

"You really think so?" Ciara asked with a smile, tears in her own eyes now.

Hope nodded. "I know so!"

They hugged.

"Just don't expect Chase and me to be breaking bread together anytime soon. I've gotta draw the line somewhere!" Ciara said.

Hope laughed. "Don't worry. I'm pretty sure Chase is smarter than to think otherwise." She winked at Ciara and smirked.

Ciara grinned, and they hugged again.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

"I'm sorry," Aiden said as he and Hope lie in bed together that night. "I know what Chase did was wrong. I'm sorry I pushed you to let him live with us."

Hope propped herself up on her elbow and faced him. "I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have called Chase a brat. I know he felt he was doing the right thing. Who knows? Maybe he was. He just did what I should have done myself."

"I just feel bad I pushed you into letting him stay with us. It seems I'm always letting you down. Who knows? Maybe you were better off with Rafe," Aiden said.

"Hey!" Hope gently stroked his cheek. "Don't say that. I loved Rafe, and was happy with him, yes. But he wasn't you. My heart wanted you. I never felt the connection with him as I felt with you. I was just with him because everybody told me I was supposed to be with him. I confused my gratefulness for all he did for me and my love for him as a friend as something more than it really was. I also felt obligated since he was the man Bo chose for me. I eventually realized I had to choose my own love. My heart never let me be fully happy with Rafe because it was _you_ it wanted—not Rafe. It was _you_ I was truly in love with. I know that Bo would just want me to be happy no matter whom it is I'm happy with. I'm happiest with _you_ , Aiden. So no, I am not better off with Rafe. And as for pushing Chase on me, you didn't. I could have said no, but I didn't."

"But I kind of put you on the spot," Aiden said, looking away in shame. "I should have known better than to do that after what happened with Ciara."

"Hey," Hope said gently. She gently pulled his face toward hers by the chin. "Look at me. You were just looking out for your son. I would have done the same if the roles were reversed. Even Ciara agrees that Chase needs you now more than ever. It's fine. I just don't want him pushing Ciara to forgive him before she is ready to. Okay?"

Aiden nodded. "I'll warn him not to. If he does, we'll figure out other living arrangements for him." He kissed her lovingly on the lips. "I promise."

Hope then clicked off her bedside lamp, which was the only light left in the room other than the moonlight through the window.

They then kissed some more.

Aiden moaned, and rested his forehead against hers, her head between his hands. "I'll refrain from making love to you since your daughter is in the house. But, Baby, I'm dying here, not being able to make love to you."

Hope grinned. "All in due time, my love," she purred into his ear. "All in due time. I need a bit longer to heal from giving birth anyway. But soon, very soon, my Love."

"You're more than worth the wait," Aiden said to her, his eyes lowered with love for her.

"You remember I said I'm ready to be engaged any time now, right?" Hope asked him.

Aiden nodded. "I know." He grinned. "I won't forget. Believe me." He grinned.

Hope grinned too. "I know. I'm just making sure."

"Now kiss me. Just not too passionately or I'm going to have to take a cold shower before bed," Aiden murmured.

Hope laughed, and then got on top of him. "Oh, but there are other ways than making love to satisfy you, my Love…" she purred into his ear.

He moaned. "Oh? How?"

"Let me show you…" she murmured as she disappeared below the covers.

"Oh…" Aiden said a moment later. He was glad he had mastered being quiet during their intimate times better than Hope had. It came in handy in times like this.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

Chase was finally released back home. Instead of going back to the hotel, Aiden and Hope had brought him back to Hope's place so he could have his room back. Ciara was still there, but would be heading back the next day.

Shortly before dinner, they took Chase home.

Hope had been a little icy to him. She hadn't apologized for snapping at him. Heck, she hadn't said a word to him since she and Aiden had picked him up from the hospital. He had to wonder why she had even bothered to come along. Now he just felt awkward.

It was particularly awkward coming home to see Ciara sitting on the couch watching _Mean Girls_. She didn't even look at them when they came in. "Hey, Mom."

Chase was consoled a little bit by the fact that she hadn't greeted Aiden either. After all, misery loves company.

Chase couldn't take the awkward tension in the room, so he headed up to the privacy of his own room. A half hour later, there was a gentle knock on his door.

"Chase, it's me. Can I come in?"

Chase sat up straight; shocked at the sound of Ciara's voice. "Sure. Come on in."

Ciara opened the door, and then walked in, not bothering to shut the door behind her. "I just want to thank you for telling me the truth when no one else would. I'm not sure you meant it entirely for my benefit, but even so. Thank you for being honest with me."

Chase's face lit up. Could this be the forgiveness he had longed for for so long? Father Lewis was right! Being honest had worked! "You're welcome. I knew I needed to start being honest if you were ever going to forgive me."

"Wait. You don't think we're good and square; that all is forgiven just because you told me the truth, do you?" Ciara asked.

Chase felt the disappointment stab his heart like a knife. "Well, I was kind of hoping it would."

Ciara shook her head and laughed bitterly. "Then you're sadly mistaken! It's going to take a lot more than that for me to forgive you!"

Chase looked down at his bedspread. "I know." He then looked her in the eyes. "I know words can never make up for what I did to you. What I did was sick and despicable, and it's not to be taken lightly. I was just going through such a hard time. I lost my dad, I thought at the time he was an attempted murderer, I felt all alone with no one to love me. I had Andre Dimera as an influence."

Ciara crossed her arms over her chest. "That's still no excuse! You had my mom, and you had me. Heck, you even had Claire and Theo, but you threw it all away just because you couldn't figure out how to control yourself. You made the wrong choices, and now you have to suffer the consequences for them!" she snapped.

"Well I did, all right?!" Chase snapped back. "I got raped by a boy who was going through a similar situation as I was at the time I raped you. I got done to me exactly what got done to you. I bet you're really happy about that! Justice is finally served, right, Ciara?"

Ciara stepped back a little. "I didn't say that," she said, her tone a little calmer.

"But you're thinking it, right? Sure you say on the surface that you're sorry it happened to me, and that nobody deserves rape. But deep down, isn't there just a little part of you that feels justified that I had done to me exactly what happened to you?" Chase asked.

Ciara didn't answer. She just looked away.

"Precisely! You know what? I'm sick of it! I'm sick of everyone in this town expecting to be forgiven for their own sins, yet they're not willing to forgive me mine no matter how sorry and repentant I am! You're all a bunch of hypocrites! Every single one of you!" Chase rushed passed her to the door.

"And what did _I_ do, Chase, that makes me so hypocritical? Huh? Unlike you, I didn't rape anybody!" Ciara yelled after him.

Chase stopped, and turned slowly around to face her, tears in his eyes. He was teary for two reasons. One, he was so angry and frustrated that it was making him tear up. Two, he was sad at the realization that Ciara may never forgive him for what he had done. Him having been raped didn't change a thing, and neither did telling her the truth. And now, it was too late to ever go back to being the best friends that he had Ciara had been as kids. He never expected to be best friends again, he supposed. He knew that would be pushing it. But he had at least hoped that now, three years after he raped her, she could at least _start_ to forgive him. If she didn't forgive him by now, she would never forgive him.

"There's nothing more I can say. I'm done trying to get you to forgive me. Please just leave me alone now," he said quietly.

Ciara crossed her arms over her chest. "Gladly!" she said quietly as she pushed passed him and headed out the door. She shut it behind herself.

Chase threw himself down onto his stomach, and closed his eyes. He didn't even cry. He just wiped the tears from his eyes with his sleeve. In his experience, crying never helped anyway.

He then had an idea. He got on the phone and dialed up his aunt Carol to Face time her.

 _ **~*came back to me*~**_

Carol picked up on the third ring. "Hey, Chase! What's up? How are you feeling?"

"Not too well," Chase informed her. "I tried apologizing to Ciara, but she wouldn't forgive me."

"Well, Kid, you did rape her. You can't expect her to just—"

Chase cut her off. "I get that, all right?! But that was three years ago, and she's still as angry with me now as she was back then."

Carol sighed. "I don't know what to say, Hon."

Chase shook his head. "You don't have to say anything. Just please let me live with you. I can't stand living here. Hope is so hypocritical and judgmental. I can't bare living in her house any longer— especially when Ciara comes to visit her."

Carol winced. "Gee, Kid, you know I love you, but I'm living with Casey now. He has a one-bedroom apartment. I don't think that would be a good idea. There wouldn't be any room for you to sleep."

"Please?" Chase begged. "I can sleep on the couch. I don't mind."

Carol looked sympathetic. "Hon, I'm sorry, but that would be awfully crowded, and you'd have no privacy. You wouldn't like that very much, I assure you."

Chase was suddenly annoyed. He narrowed her eyes at her. "Are you concerned about _my_ privacy or your own?"

Carol shrugged. "Honestly, both."

Chase scowled.

"Chase, if you need to spend a few days with us you can. How about that? Maybe a break from Hope's place will help."

"The only thing that will _help_ is getting the hell out of there. But as usual, you're a terrible aunt who only thinks of herself. Yet again, you don't want me living with you when I need you the most. A man comes first to you before your nephew. Silly me for ever thinking you'd changed!"

Carol's mouth dropped open in shock at his words. "Chase, I'm sorry! I'm just being realistic!"

Chase shook his head. "No, you're just being selfish. Thanks for nothing!" He clicked off his phone and turned it off. He then set his phone on the dresser. What was _wrong_ with the people who claimed to love him? he wondered.

He was suddenly so angry he wanted to break something.

He stormed downstairs and walked over to his Dad. He needed to calm down, and the only way to do that was to get out of the house and maybe get some dinner. "Dad, do you think we could go get some dinner, and maybe just have a father-son night out?"

Aiden looked at his son with the same sympathetic look Carol had given him moments before. "How about you just order a pizza for us in? We can go out another day. Hope wants to take Ciara out for dinner just the two of them since it's Ciara's last night here. I promised I'd stay back with the twins. I could actually use the help with the twins. Maybe once they're settled, you and I can put a Netflix movie on and chill. Wait. That doesn't always mean something inappropriate, does it?"

"Can't they take the twins with them?" Chase asked. "I mean, Hope's their parent too."

"They want to enjoy some mother daughter time without having to worry about taking care of a crying baby," Aiden said gently.

"Yeah, well, I want to enjoy some father son time without having to worry about a crying baby!" Chase said. "Can't Shawn take them?"

Hope came into the room then. "Shawn is working," she said, overhearing him. "Besides, it would make no sense for him or Carol to watch the twins when you two will be home."

"But I don't want to be home! I want to go out," Chase said. "I need to get out of this hell hole."

"Yeah, well, you can't always get what you want, now can you?" Hope asked him; annoyed at him having called her place a hell hole when she was nice enough to take him in.

Chase shot her a dirty look.

"Come on, Son, we'll have fun here! The babies will probably sleep most of the time," Aiden said, gently placing a hand over his shoulder.

"Keyword being _probably_. You know what? Just forget it. I would have been better off staying with Jeremiah and Trevin! At least with them I got to go out to eat twice a week!" he turned to Hope. "I wish my dad had never met you! It's your fault we're not as close anymore!" He looked at his Dad. "And shame on you for always picking Hope and the twins over me!" He then stormed upstairs. The sound of his bedroom door slamming could be heard a moment later.

Aiden sighed, and turned to face Hope. "I'm sorry about that. I'll order him and me a pizza and put on a horror movie, and then he'll be good to go. The babies always sleep after their bottles anyway. You and Ciara go have fun." He pulled her close and kissed her. "I love you."

Hope kissed him too. "I love you too. Good luck! We'll try not to stay out too late."

"You take as long as you need," Aiden said to her, gently stroking her hair.

They kissed once more, and then Hope called up the stairs for Ciara.

Ciara came down a moment later. "I just changed the twins, but they are fussing in their cribs now. I think they want their bottles."

"I'll get right on it. Have fun tonight," Aiden said, helping Hope with her jacket.

"Thanks," Ciara said.

"See you soon!" Hope kissed Aiden, then she and Ciara left.

Aiden shut the door behind him, and then went upstairs to feed the babies. That is, right after he called and ordered a pizza for himself and his third baby.


	61. S3E11

_**This Love…**_

 _ **Season 3 Episode 11: The Only One**_

"I hope we're doing the right thing. I feel bad leaving the twins. They're only a month old. They need their mother!" Hope said as Aiden put the card key into the slot of their hotel room. Aiden had convinced her to go to NYC with him for two nights. She had barely wanted to leave the twins for one night, but being an almost eight-hour flight from Salem to New York, she knew they would hardly have any time in the city if they only went for one night. They wouldn't arrive in NYC until around three or four in the after noon that day, and if she wanted to be home in time to tuck the twins into their cribs the next night, they'd have to take a flight no later than eleven in the morning the next day. So, reluctantly, she had agreed to stay two nights. Carol and Casey were staying at her place for two nights with the twins.

"What if the dog poops on the floor? Or pees?" Hope asked, worried. Of course she couldn't say no when Carol had asked if they could bring Jake.

"We have hardwoods. It won't be a big deal. They can just clean it right up," Aiden said calmly. He opened the door and let her walk in first.

"What if the twins get into it before they can clean it up?" Her face paled. "Oh my gosh, what if he bites one of them? Aiden, we have to go home—now!"

Aiden sighed. "The twins are barely a month old. They aren't going to be crawling around, getting into things like that. Besides, I'm sure Carol and Casey are more responsible than that. Or at least Casey is. But honestly, Carol's gotten a lot better at responsibility! As for Jake, you've met him. He's the nicest, most relaxed dog ever. Can you really see him snapping at the twins?"

"Well, if the twins taunt him he might," Hope replied.

Aiden smirked. "Again, they're barely a month old. I don't think there will be any taunting going on with them."

Hope smiled, feeling a little silly now. "I suppose you're right."

"Now, do you want to get back on a plane after we just got off of one and spend eight more hours on it? Or do you want to stay here…" He gently positioned her so that she was facing the window which displayed a beautiful view of the city from the 14th floor. "And enjoy a romantic getaway? Maybe we can even finally satisfy our burning desire for each other, if you catch my drift?" He gently began kissing down her neck. It had been a week since Chase had come home, and things were still stressful. Aiden needed this break, and he knew that Hope did too.

Hope smiled, and placed her hands over top of his. "It really is a beautiful view," she said.

"Mmhm…" Aiden murmured, kissing further down the side of her neck to her collarbone.

"And I do feel ready to…" She turned around to face him. She draped her arms over his shoulders. "You know."

Aiden grinned. "Boy am I ever glad to hear _that_!"

"And we _are_ already here. I really don't feel like another eight-hour plane ride so soon…" Hope continued, grinning as she gently stroked his hair.

"Way too soon to take another one," Aiden agreed.

"I guess we better stay a couple nights then, huh?" she asked.

Aiden nodded. "Yes! We definitely should. I even made a special dinner reservation for us."

Hope raised an eyebrow. "Where at?"

"You'll just have to wait and see!" He kissed her sweetly on the lips. "So, get into that dress I bought you for the trip, and then we can be on our way."

Hope grinned big. He had gotten her a dress she had seen in a store window and loved, but she hadn't wanted to spend the money on. He had surprised her with it the next day over lunch.

She kissed his cheek. "I'll hurry!"

"Take your time. We still have an hour," he said.

As Hope grabbed what she needed and headed into the bathroom to change, she couldn't help but feel her pulse race. She had a feeling he was going to propose tonight. That is part of the reason why she had agreed to go on this trip. His "special dinner reservation" made her almost completely sure that tonight was the night. She quietly squealed with happiness and excitement, and then got to work at making herself look the best she could look for her special night.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

"This place is so beautiful! Was there a waiting list?" Hope asked as Aiden held her chair out for her. She sat down and looked out the panoramic window that surrounded the restaurant and that was right by her seat. It had a view of the whole city.

"I called and made reservations, but it wasn't difficult to get a table," Aiden explained.

"Well, I'm surprised." She smiled across the table at Aiden, who was now sitting in his seat across from her. "It's so beautiful, I figured everyone in NY would want to eat here."

"If you think it's beautiful now, wait until the sun sets and all the lights come on. Also, every hour this place does a 360 degree turn, giving a true panoramic view," Aiden explained.

Hope grinned even brighter. "Really?"

Aiden nodded. He then took her hands in his from across the table. "Even so, it's beauty won't impress me, because nothing impresses me in comparison to _your_ beauty."

Hope blushed. "You always did know just the right things to say to me."

Aiden kissed her hands while looking her in the eyes. "I only speak the truth. I know because of my past that 'I only speak the truth' may sound funny coming from my mouth, but it really is true."

Hope, smiling, kissed his hands in return. "Well, I love it! And I love _you_. Thank you for taking me here."

"Anything for my princess," Aiden said to her. "And after this, I have tickets for the eight o'clock showing of _Beautiful_ on Broadway. I heard it's a really great show, and for one special night, which is tonight—part of the reason why I chose this particular weekend—the original cast is performing. Jessie Mueller, Jake Epstein, Jarrod Spector, and Anika Larson will be reprising their roles."

Hope's face lit up. "I heard about that play! I've been wanting to see it, but never got to see it even though it's been around for what is it? Six years now. And with the original cast? How cool is _that_?"

"Well, tonight you'll finally get to see it! And them." Aiden told her with a grin.

Hope smirked. "This is kind of reminiscent of our first date, only we're in NY instead of Chicago. Let's just hope it doesn't end the same way."

Aiden groaned as he remembered getting spaghetti dumped on him, and the play being cancelled. "Don't jinx it!"

Before Hope could respond, their waiter came to take their drink orders, and she excitedly looked over her menu to make her selection.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

"Mm! Dinner was absolutely delicious!" Hope said, dabbing her mouth with her napkin.

"So, what would you like for dessert?" Aiden asked her.

She smirked at him. "You, but I suppose that will have to wait until after our play, huh?" Her eyebrow twitched.

"As far as I'm concerned, we can skip the play," Aiden teased.

Hope blushed, and pushed some hair behind her ear with a shy smile.

"But seriously, they have fantastic desserts here, and we have time before the play. Why don't you pick something?"

"Well, the tangerine and chocolate pudding does sound good," she replied.

"I think I'll get the cheese plate and we can try a dessert wine as well," he replied. "And maybe I'll get one of those puddings as well. It does sound good."

"I have to go to the bathroom. Will you please order for me?" Hope asked him.

"Of course, Baby," he replied, taking her hand and kissing it.

She smiled. "I'll be right back."

Hope got up and left for the bathroom. She really did have to go before the play, but mainly she wanted to give Aiden a chance to set up his proposal. She figured he was going to do something cute like one would see on a TV show, like planting the ring in her wine, or even sticking it in her pudding as a garnish. She could hardly wait to become his fiancé again!

So, she went to the bathroom and washed her hands, then headed out to eagerly await her dessert. She inwardly squealed as she headed back to the table. She felt the way she had as a little kid when opening a new cereal box, and wondering if she'd get the toy she wanted. Only now she was waiting her beautiful diamond ring.

She sat back down and found that her red dessert wine was already waiting for her. She picked it up and moved the glass around, looking for a ring. It would be a whole lot easier to spot if she had ordered a white wine, she realized. Or at the very least a blush wine.

"What'cha looking for?" Aiden asked her.

She pursed her lips when she realized there was no ring in her wine. She looked up at Aiden. "Nothing. I thought I saw a piece of something in it, but I think it's just a piece of grape pulp."

They made small talk, and soon, their desserts arrived.

Hope put on her unsuspecting face as it arrived. She was ready to see her beautiful ring setting in the pudding, waiting for her. However, when her pudding arrived, there was no ring in it. She even stirred it with her spoon to make sure. She looked over at Aiden's in case the waiter had gotten the puddings switched, but there was no ring in his pudding either, nor was there any on the cheese plate.

"What's wrong?" Aiden asked her. "The pudding's not good?"

Hope realized she was pouting. She quickly replaced her pout with a smile. "No, everything's good. I'm just thinking how I hope I don't gain weight with all this food!"

Aiden hit the air with his hand. "Oh, please! You are not going to gain wait from one meal and some pudding and cheese. Besides, even if you did, you'd still be stunningly beautiful to me."

Hope smiled again, feeling better, but still disappointed.

Suddenly, the restaurant began to rotate.

"See? Isn't it beautiful? We're lucky to get the rotation when it's dark!" Aiden said, for it had just barely finally became completely dark out other than the lights of the city and the moonlight and starlight. He looked out the window to see the panoramic view of the city, then he looked lovingly at Hope, who took his breath away far more than even the panoramic view of the city did.

Hope looked at the panoramic view and felt like this would be the perfect time for Aiden to propose to her.

"You are so beautiful that no view of the city could ever compare. I can't believe how lucky I am to have you," Aiden said to her.

Hope looked at him, her heart pounding. This had to be it! He had just been waiting for the rotation. That definitely had to be it! "There's no one else I'd rather be with than you, and that will never change," she said to him in hopes that he'd understand that if he asked he right now, she'd say yes.

"Hope," he began.

"Yes, my Love?" she asked, getting her left ring finger ready.

"As beautiful as this view is, we had better be going if we want to make the play. Did I mention I have orchestra seats?"

She made sure to hide her pout this time. So much for him asking her there at the restaurant! Maybe he would at the play. Or better yet, maybe one of the cast members would announce that he had something to ask her. Aiden proposing to her in front of the cast of _Beautiful_ and the whole audience seemed like something Aiden would do, being the romantic he is.

She stood up, suddenly very eager to leave. "Let's go!"

Aiden chuckled. "Hold on. I have to pay the bill."

After what seemed like forever, he paid the bill and left the tip, then they left with their arms around each other, and Hope more than ready to be proposed to.

 _ **~*came back to me* ~**_

 __"Are you all right?" Aiden asked Hope as they arrived back at their hotel. "You haven't said much since we left the play. Did you not like it? I liked it a lot, but I won't be offended if you didn't. I'm sorry if you didn't. I just thought it would be something we'd both enjoy."

Hope shook her head, and pushed some hair behind her ear. "No, I guess I'm just tired. I loved the play, and I loved being there with you. Thank you for taking me. Tonight has been so wonderful!"

"And tomorrow I'm gonna take you shopping. You can get whatever you'd like, and I'll pay for everything. I also thought maybe we could go for a walk through Central Park and take a carriage ride."

Hope smiled weakly. "That sounds wonderful." She raised an eyebrow. "But you don't have to pay for my shopping. I have money of my own, you know."

"I know, but I get joy out of buying things for you." Aiden kissed her, and gently stroked her hair.

Hope kissed him in return, her fingers tangling in his hair, suddenly not seeming upset anymore. "How did I get so lucky to have you?" she asked, resting her forehead against his.

"There was a time when you didn't find yourself so lucky to have me. Of course, it is understandable," he murmured.

"Well, those days are over!" She kissed him, and then started unbuttoning his shirt. "Now, I can't get enough of you." She began kissing his neck.

He moaned, and began undressing her as well.

Soon, he was carrying her to bed, and they were kissing as if tonight would be their last night together. Though, they both knew that tonight was going to be only one of the many, many nights ahead of them. Aiden never wanted to let her go, and he was never going to.

Hope closed her eyes, loving the feel of Aiden's lips on her neck, and loving even more the feel of him finally making love to her again after months of having to wait.

She threw her head back and her lips parted as she forgot everything that had been worrying her. She knew then that all that mattered was right then and right now, being with the man whom she loved more than anything.

"Aiden!" she gasped, his name falling from her lips as his body moved over hers at just the right pace. He always knew how to make her feel _so_ good. Months later, and nothing had changed except for the fact that making love with him was even better than she had remembered it to be.

She kissed him more passionately, and rolled over so that she was on top of him. His hands went to gently massage her breasts, and she leaned down and kissed him with all the passion had in her before moving over him, wanting to give him as much pleasure as he was giving her. His moans and gasps, mixed with his fingers tangled in her hair showed that she was accomplishing giving him that pleasure she wanted to give him.

After a moment, he moved them so that she was beneath him again.

Her fingers dug into his lower back as he sent her to places she had forgotten existed. Her eyes rolled to the back of her head as he brought her to her ecstasy, meeting his own soon after.

"Well that was definitely worth the wait!" Hope said, her breath heavy as they lie on their backs afterward. She looked over at him and grinned. "Was it good for you?" she teased, propping herself up on her elbow and facing him.

Aiden looked at her. "I saw stars!" he said. "And I don't mean from our window."

"And I saw fireworks!" she said. She pulled him close and kissed him passionately. "I missed this so much!"

Aiden moaned, and hungrily returned her kiss. "I love you so much my heart feels like it's going to burst!"

"And I love you so much _my_ heart feels like it's about to burst!" She smirked and raised eyebrow. "And it's not just from the workout you just gave me."

They kissed some more, then Hope rested her head on his chest.

Aiden stroked Hope's hair, loving being able to sleep with her in his arms. Before they had gotten back together, he had spent many nights crying from missing her so much. His heart hadn't felt complete without her. Now that he was lucky enough to have her back, he was never, _ever_ going to let her go again. He would not repeat his old mistakes. He would be the man she needed. He had no other choice, for he simply couldn't live without her.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

Hope sighed happily, tomorrow was always another day. He hadn't proposed to her tonight, but maybe he would tomorrow. After all, they had a romantic carriage ride they'd be taking. It would be the perfect time to propose. He was the one she wanted to spend the rest of her life with. She had no doubt in her mind. And this time, she was never going to let him go, because if she lost him, she'd lose a piece of her heart, and she simply couldn't live with a piece missing from her heart.

 _ **~*came back to me*~**_

Hope ended up shopping more for Ciara , Shawn, and the twins, than she did for herself. She even got Skylar a little something. The only thing she bought for herself was a Chanel handbag she loved, and a new blazer. Though, she supposed, at the price they cost, saying "only" seemed to be an understatement.

"At least let me pay for the souvenirs I got for the kids," Hope said as Aiden paid for her purchases. She felt bad.

Aiden shook his head. "Nope! I love them too, and I am happy to pay for their souvenirs." He had gotten Chase a new video game that he thought Chase might like. He tried not to feel bad that Hope hadn't bothered to pick Chase a souvenir up. He couldn't blame her though, he supposed. "By the way, I love the ties you bought me." He kissed her cheek. "Thank you."

She smiled. "When you were in the bathroom, I bought you the suit you liked too!"

"Hope! That suit was a thousand dollars!" Aiden said in shock. "Baby, I do not want you spending that much on me!"

Hope shrugged. "Tough! The bag alone that you bought me was far more than that, so I don't want to hear it."

He kissed her lovingly. "Remind me to thank you tonight," he murmured.

She moaned, and kissed him again.

They dropped their bags off at the hotel, and then headed out for their walk in central park. They had had a big breakfast, and weren't quite hungry for lunch yet.

They walked hand-in-hand. Their hotel wasn't far from the park.

When they got there, they got right onto a horse and carriage ride, and enjoyed a nice romantic stroll through the park as their coachman gave them a tour of the city.

Hope held Aiden's hand under the blanket, hoping that this was the moment he was going to propose to her. She kissed him, then rubbed his left ring finger in hopes of hinting to him to do it now.

However, after a half hour consisting of enjoying the beautiful scenery, kissing, and listening to their coachman talk about the places in the city that they passed, the carriage ride ended.

Aiden got off the carriage first.

For a split second, Hope's pulse raced, for she thought he was about to get down on one knee and propose to her. Then her heart calmed when she realized he was just extending his hand to help her off the carriage.

She sighed, and thanked him for helping her down.

They then thanked their coachman, pet the horse, then bid them both ado.

Next, they walked through the park, enjoying all the beautiful fall leaves.

"The scenery is beautiful here," Hope said as they walked over a bridge that was surrounded by big beautiful buildings, and even more beautiful trees that were red, orange, and yellow from the leaves turning for the fall. The sun reflecting on the water beneath them made the atmosphere all the more beautiful. She stopped on the bridge to look down at the water beneath them.

Aiden rubbed her back. "It's not as beautiful as you," he said to her.

"You always say that," she said quietly.

"Well, it's always true!" he replied.

She turned to face him. "You love me for more than just my looks, right?" she asked timidly.

Aiden scrunched his eyebrows together in confusion. "Why would you ask me that? You know I love you for so much more. You have a good heart, you make me laugh, you're the most loyal, smart and caring woman I know… Baby, you're my dream girl. You're everything I could ever want in a woman. Your beautiful looks are just the icing on the cake!"

"Then why don't you want to marry me?" Hope's bottom lip and voice were both trembling.

Aiden gently stroked her hair. "Baby, why would you think I don't want to marry you?"

"Because I told you weeks ago that I'm ready for you to propose to me, and you still haven't yet." She motioned around them with her hand. "Not even in this beautiful setting."

Aiden sighed. "You thought I was going to propose to you hear in the city. That's why you've seemed down lately—because I didn't propose."

Hope slowly nodded. "I don't mean to rush you if you aren't ready. Heck, I wasn't ready when you proposed the first time, or second time, whatever you want to call it." She looked him in the eyes. "I just don't want you to change your mind about marrying me! I love you, and…" Hope hated herself for getting emotional. She didn't even have the twins in her womb now, so she couldn't blame it on them anymore.

"Oh, Baby, don't cry! When _you_ cry, it makes _me_ want to cry!" Aiden gently wiped away her tears with his thumbs. "Baby, look at me. I love you more than my own life, okay?"

Hope sniffled and slowly nodded.

"Baby, you and the kids are my everything. I promise you, you are the only one for me, and that is never going to change. I just want the timing to be perfect, all right? The day will come soon that I will propose to you, I promise! Just not here. Not now. All right?"

Hope nodded.

"Are we good?" Aiden pressed.

"Better than good!" Hope assured him.

"Good! Now come here and let me taste those sweet lips of yours!" Aiden said to her.

Hope laughed, and kissed him lovingly on the lips.

They then grinned at each other.

"Now, what do you say we go get some lunch?" Aiden asked her gently. "That _Golden Girls_ café place we passed in the carriage actually sounded interesting even though I never really watched the show."

Hope raised an eyebrow at him.

"All right, all right. I used to watch it religiously with Carol, and you know something? I think I enjoyed it even more than she did. Dorothy, Sophia, Blanche, Rose, Stan… All of them had me laughing so hard it hurt! This is embarrassing because I was fifteen or sixteen, but I once peed my pants from laughing. Carol made fun of me for weeks! She called me Golden Boy because of my 'golden pee'," he admitted. "And Golden Boy because I was a boy and not a girl who loved _Golden Girls_."

Hope laughed, then smiled up at him as she wrapped her arms around him. "I love hearing stories of you can Carol as kids."

"Then follow me, my princess! I have lots more to tell over lunch!" He extended his hand to her.

Hope smiled even bigger, took his hand, and let her prince lead her to their next destination.


	62. S3E12

_**This Love…**_

 _ **Season 3 Episode 12: Bombs Up In My Face**_

"I love you so much!" Hope said, stopping Aiden at the door. They had just returned from their New York City getaway. They had had such a wonderful time that Hope felt even more in love with Aiden than she ever had before, it that were possible.

She gently took his face between her hands and lovingly kissed him.

He moaned, pulled her closer, and hungrily kissed her back.

Hope broke the kiss and rested her head against his. "Thank you for this trip. You were right. It was exactly what I needed."

"Anything to see you smile," Aiden said, gently stroking her cheek.

She smiled, and they kissed some more.

Suddenly, the door opened.

"Ugh! Gosh, you two! Could you stop making out for like two seconds? I mean, you had the whole weekend to do that!" Carol was only half joking.

Hope smirked at her. "Hello, Carol."

Carol put on a fake smile. "Hello! I hope you both had fun. Now can you please take the twins back? Haiden has been a gem, but Maddie has been driving me and Casey upside the wall. Not even Chase's singing has helped."

"Was she crying the whole time?" Hope asked; alarmed.

"No, she wasn't _that_ bad. You know Carol; she's just being dramatic," Casey said, appearing with Maddie in his arms. He was gently rocking her, and feeding her her bottle.

"Where is Haiden?" Hope asked.

"Sleeping. I swear that boy sleeps more than Rip Van Winkle! Not that that's a bad thing," Carol quipped. "Like I said, he's a doll. Madeleine, on the other hand, is a fuss pot!"

"She cries only when she's hungry or needs changing. She's been sleeping a lot too. I think she's precious! Kind of makes me want one of my own," Casey said, leaning his head down to kiss her forehead. "She's such a cutie!"

"Get another dog instead. It's less pesty. Better yet, get a cat," Carol quipped. "I'll even let you name her." She smirked.

"Haha…" Casey said sarcastically. He finished feeding Madeleine, then burped her.

"Mind it I take her?" Aiden asked.

"Not at all. After all, she's yours," Casey said.

"Thank you." Aiden carefully took his daughter into his arms, and Maddie stared into his eyes with her big blue eyes. She blinked at him, but remained silent. "See? Maddie's a good girl! She's not pesty at all!" Aiden said in a baby voice. He kissed her soft little cheek, and she gurgled.

Carol rolled her eyes. "Of course for you she is. She always has been since the day she was born. She must really love her daddy!"

Aiden grinned with pride. "And I really love my Maddie!" he said, using the baby voice again, and staring adoringly into Madeleine's eyes.

Hope looked at Aiden, feeling as if her heart would burst. He was the best father she could ever ask for for her children—besides Bo of course. At that moment, she felt like the luckiest woman alive.

 _ **~*came back to me*~**_

"I know I'm probably bias, but I think we've got the prettiest baby I've ever seen," Aiden said to Hope as he carried Madeleine down the hallway to the nursery. She had fallen asleep moments before.

"Tied with Ciara when she was a baby, I'd have to say you're correct!" Hope said with a grin.

They entered the nursery, and Aiden gently laid Madeleine down in her crib.

Hope then tucked her in.

Together, they admired her, loving their precious God-given miracle.

"I missed her and Haiden so much!" Hope said. She reached in and gently stroked Maddie's forehead. "I never thought I'd be a mother again at my age, but now, I'm so glad I am."

"Same here. I mean, being a father again in my case," Aiden said. "Plus, I never thought I'd have a daughter. Now to have one with you, it's beyond my wildest dreams!"

Hope smiled at him and gently stroked his cheek. "You're beyond _my_ mildest dreams," she said to him.

"Oh, Hope. You know you're mine too," he murmured, his eyes lowered with love for her.

They kissed, then went over to admire Haiden, who was also sleeping peacefully in his crib.

"I'm surprised he hasn't woken up for his next feeding yet like his sister did," Aiden commented.

No sooner had he said that, Haiden started to stir, then cry.

Hope scooped him up in her arms. "You jinxed it!" she said with a smirk.

"Let's get him downstairs before he wakes his sister," Aiden replied.

Hope nodded, and they quickly left the nursery.

"Can I feed him?" Aiden asked. "I missed him so much!"

"I missed him too! You got to hold Maddie. I didn't even get to hold her since we got back," Hope said with a pout. "I get to feed Haiden since you got to hold Maddie."

Aiden pouted too. "Fine."

"You can do the changing once he's done with his bottle," Hope said with a grin.

" _Gee, thanks_ ," Aiden said sarcastically. He grinned. "No, really. I missed him so much I'll actually welcome it!"

"I see you don't even care how _I_ was while you were gone," Chase grumbled, suddenly appearing.

"Hello to you too, Chase," Hope said, clearly annoyed.

"Of course I missed you! Madeleine just happened to be the first child I saw. Then of course I saw Haiden because he is in the same room," Aiden explained.

"You walked right past my room and couldn't even be bothered to say hello, nor did you ask Carol or Casey how I was," Chase said coldly.

"I'm sorry. The twins are just new, and—"

Chase cut Aiden off. "You know what? Save it! I get it. Now that you have them, you don't need me any longer."

"Chase, that's not what I meant and you know it!" Aiden called after him.

Hope had already gone down the stairs.

Chase too ran down the stairs. He had to get out of the house and away from everyone. He needed to be alone to think.

"What is going on with you?!" Aiden asked, barreling down the stairs after him. "I'm sorry you went through such hell. I really am! I'm trying my best to be here for you, but you keep acting like I was the one who put you through that hell! We used to be so close. What the heck is wrong, Chase?"

"Oh, nothing. Just the fact that I'm sick of being surrounded by liars and hypocrites! I need to get out of here." Chase headed for the door.

"Where are you going?" Aiden called out.

"None of your business! I want to be alone," Chase snapped.

"Well, you're not going to be alone now that you tried to commit suicide!" Aiden informed him.

"Relax! I'm not going to try it again. I'd just mess it up again anyway," Chase said, his hand on the door handle. He paused when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Chase, your father said no," Hope said coldly. She was still holding Haiden in one arm, who was crying loudly.

"You're not my mom! You never loved me even before all this, so stop trying to tell me what to do!" Chase said, yelling to be heard over Haiden's cries.

"That's not true, and you know it! I loved you very much, but you didn't want any part of it. Then, you raped my daughter, so how am I supposed to feel about you now?" Hoped asked. "Huh? How do you think I should feel? Do you just want me to sweep it underneath the rug and forget about it? Is that it? Cuz if it is, I'm sorry to disappoint you, Chase, but it's never going to happen!"

Aiden guarded the door.

Chase sighed, and headed for the couch. Haiden's cries were starting to give him a headache. He put his hand to his forehead. "You know what, Hope? Just shut up and stop talking to me. You're the biggest hypocrite of them all in this house."

Haiden was screaming super loudly by this time.

"Chase, don't talk like that to Hope—especially not in her own house!" Aiden snapped.

"I'll talk to the bitch any way that I want to talk to her!" Chase said defiantly.

"Chase Michael Jennings, that is **enough**! Now you apologize to Hope right now!" Aiden snapped.

Chase glared at him. "There you go again, defending that cow over me!"

Haiden was screaming so loudly, Chase thought his head was going to explode. "Will you please shut that baby up?" he yelled, taking a couch cushion and throwing it as hard as he could at Hope's head. The pillow hit with such force that Hope lost her hold on Haiden, and Haiden went tumbling onto the chair beside the couch, and then rolled off the couch and hit the floor.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

Haiden was now screaming as if someone were stabbing him.

Chase's mouth dropped open in shock. "I—I—I'm sorry! I didn't mean for Haiden to fall!"

"My baby!" Hope cried out as she ran to collect Haiden.

Haiden was still screaming, but upon close inspection of his head, he seemed to be okay.

"Thank God he hit the chair first and that it is cushioned," Aiden said. He rushed over to Hope. "Are you all right?"

Hope didn't answer. Instead, she shot Chase a look to kill. "Get out." She ordered in a calm, but ice-cold tone.

"Hope, I'm sorry! I was just angry with you! I only meant to hit _you_ with it. I wasn't even trying to hurt you or anyone. It was just cushion! I didn't think it would cause any problems!" Chase quickly said.

"Get out!"Hope said a little more firm this time.

"I would never intentionally hurt anyone, let alone the twins!" Chase insisted.

"Don't even speak to me about not intentionally hurting anyone! Are your forgetting you raped my daughter?" Hope snarled.

"How could I? No one ever lets me forget!" Chase said with a shrug. He wasn't even trying to be rude this time. He was just stating a fact.

Hope narrowed her eyes at him. "Get out, Chase! Now. Get out now. Get out, get out, get out, **get out now**!" Hope yelled so loudly it put the loudness of Haiden's screams to shame.

With tears streaming down his cheeks, Chase looked at Aiden. "Dad?"

Aiden looked away. "I think you better listen to her. You wanted to go, now go."

Chase suddenly burst into tears. "I knew it! You hate me! You love Hope and the twins more than you love me! I'm unlovable now that I raped Ciara! Everyone is allowed forgiveness but me! I hate you all, I hate my life, and I wish my damn wrists would have just stayed cut open! You're all better off without me, and I'm better off without you! I hate you! I hate you all!" He then stormed over to the door, yanked the door open, and took off, slamming the door so forcefully behind him, it made the pictures of the mantle shake.

Chase balled his fists at his side. He didn't need them. He didn't need them at all! He would show them. He would show them all!

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

"Should I go after him?" Aiden asked Hope gently. "I'm afraid he's going to try to kill himself again." He began pacing the floor.

"I need you right now, and so does Haiden. I can call the station and put an APB out on Chase. Let the police look for him. As for you and me, we need to go take Haiden to Kayla and make sure there aren't any internal injuries in his head or elsewhere," Hope said to him with a look that dared him to defy her.

Aiden nodded. "All right. I'll take Haiden while you make the call."

"Thank you," Hope said. She made the call for her fellow officers to look for Chase, and then called Miss Brixton, a retired nurse who was their neighbor and loved the twins. She promised to come right over to stay with Maddie while they were gone.

Once Miss Brixton arrived, they thanked her, then headed out to the hospital.

It didn't take long for them to get there. Hope had called Kayla on the way there, so Kayla was ready to see Haiden as soon as they got there.

Kayla checked him over and confirmed that everything was just fine.

"Lucky for little Haiden, God was looking out for him. Landing on the chair cushion first helped the fall to be much shorter, and therefore he didn't have has big of an impact when he hit the floor. He might get a little bump on his head, but he'll be okay. Since he didn't get knocked out, it's not likely he has a concussion. His eyes are bright and alert, and there is no open head wound. He should be fine. Come back if he starts to throw up or sleeps more than usual. Also, bring him in if he appears dizzy at any time. But it wasn't a major fall. I highly doubt any of those things will happen. I know it can be scary when a baby falls, but you'd be surprised how many babies I've seen that have had a fall. Some have had even worse falls and still don't have anything more than a bump and a few tears to show for it!" Kayla said, soothingly.

Haiden was still fussy, but as Aiden gently rocked him in his arms, he calmed down.

"Thank you, Kayla. I just wanted to make sure everything was all right," Hope said.

Kayla nodded. "Anytime! You did the right thing bringing him in. But I suggest you try to make your place a less hostile of an environment. It's not good for the twins, or for you."

Hope nodded. "Believe me, I will."

As they left the hospital, Hope looked at Aiden. "I meant what I told Kayla. I plan on having a non-hostile environment for the twins. Chase needs to find another place to live."

Aiden nodded. "Don't worry. I'll find him one." As much as he hated to admit it, Hope was right when it came to this. Chase couldn't stay with them anymore—not after what had happened with Haiden—accident or no accident. Now came the not so joy of breaking it to Chase. Not to mention, two questions still remained. Where the hell was Chase going to live, and who the hell was Chase going to live with? Because he sure as hell wasn't going to live alone after a suicide watch!

Aiden sighed, and then strapped Haiden in his car seat.

Suddenly, Hope's phone rang. She looked at the caller ID, and then at Aiden. "It's the police station. She swiped to answer. "Hey, Roman. What's up? Did you find Chase?"

Aiden looked at her intently, wishing he could hear the other end of the conversation.

She shook her head at Aiden to show it wasn't about Chase. She then paled. "Really? Oh my gosh, that's great news! Finally! Where? … We'll be right there. We just have to drop Haiden back home. … All right. We'll see you in a few. … Bye." Hope clicked off her phone.

"They didn't find Chase?" Aiden asked; disappointed. "What was the call about? Why do we have to go to the station?"

Hope smirked. "They found someone even better. They found Jeremiah! Apparently, he was caught sneaking around the morgue in Poplar Bluff after Trevin's body was transferred there."

Aiden looked at her, grinning big from relief. Finally the son of a bitch who had put his son through hell was found! And now he could finally give Jeremiah hell in return.

He finished getting Haiden belted in, then shut the door. "Let's go."

 _ **~*came back to me*~**_

"What the hell? I'm not a criminal! You don't have to cuff me!" Chase complained as an officer cuffed him in the Town Square where he had been found.

"We have an APB out on you," the first officer explained.

"Why? What did I do?" Chase asked; annoyed.

"You tried to kill yourself, and then you ran out of your parents' house after an argument," the second officer informed him.

"First off, Hope is not my mother. It's her house; not 'my parents'' place. Second off, trying to kill myself isn't a crime, nor is arguing with people, or leaving a house that isn't mine!" Chase snapped.

"Just get into the car, all right? We need you to come to the station with us," the first officer snapped as he led him to the open back seat of the squad car and shoved him in. "Your father and Detective Brady are on their way there as well."

"For the last time, what did I do that is actually a crime?" Chase asked.

"Nothing. It's just that Jeremiah Jackson has been caught, and he is currently being booked at the station," officer one replied before slamming the door shut.

Chase's mouth dropped open, then he sat back in his seat and cried tears of relief that Jeremiah had been caught, tears of sadness over the loss of his once friend, tears of relief over the loss of his rapist, and finally, tears of emptiness. For, what did any of it matter now?


	63. S3E13

_**This Love…**_

 _ **Season 3 Episode 13: The Great Big Dissconnect**_

Chase didn't want to be there. He didn't want to see Jeremiah again. He never wanted to see him again. He never wanted to have to relive what he had gone through. Not even for a second!

He arrived at the police station before being taken out of the car and then gently led into the police station by officer one. Officer two simply walked on ahead of them as if he were no longer interested in this "arrest." He was perfectly happy to let his partner take care of it.

Chase arrived at the police station and was forced down into a chair in the waiting area.

"Wait for your parents," Officer one ordered sternly. "I'll be watching you from right over there." He motioned with his head to his desk, which was only a few feet away.

" _Lovely_ ," Chase said sarcastically. "And Hope is not my mother! My mother is dead, and my father is dead to me."

Officer one ignored him.

Five minutes later, in walked Hope and Aiden.

Aiden rushed right over to him. "Did you see Jeremiah yet? Why are you cuffed?"

"No, I did not," Chase said coldly. He looked at Hope with an accusatory look. "And somebody put an APB out on me. I guess she wants me arrested for accidentally hurting Haiden."

"That is not true!" Hope glared right back at him. "Your father was worried you were going to try to kill yourself, so I had two of my fellow officers go searching for you."

"Why the handcuffs then?" Chase asked, annoyed.

Hope sighed. "They were probably just afraid you'd try to bolt." She walked over to Officer one to get the key.

"You couldn't even bother to come after me yourself!" Chase said matter-of-factly to Aiden.

"I wanted to, but Hope needed me to take her and Haiden to the hospital," Aiden said gently.

"She couldn't drive him herself?" Chase snapped.

Aiden gave him a warning look. "Chase…"

Chase sighed. "Fine. Whatever. How is he? Is he going to be all right?"

Aiden nodded. "Thankfully, yes. Landing on the chair cushion first helped. He's with our neighbor now. She's looking after the twins at home."

"It's not my home anymore," Chase said quietly. He looked at his father. "I never meant to hurt anyone. I just wanted to get Hope to shut up. I never meant to hurt the baby."

"Well, when you do things like that, bad things happen. I don't appreciate the names you were calling her. She had every right to kick you out of her house, you know," Aiden said in a tone that showed he was serious, but wasn't so harsh as to upset Chase again.

Chase looked away. "Whatever."

"You know, I'd appreciate it if you would apologize to Hope again now that she has had a chance to calm down a little. She may be more receptive this time," Aiden suggested.

Before Chase could respond, Hope came over with the key. "Lean forward," she ordered Chase.

Chase did as told and she unlocked the handcuffs, and then removed them from his wrists.

"Thank you," Chase said, sitting back in his chair and rubbing his wrists.

"You're welcome," she said with no emotion.

"I'm glad Haiden is going to be okay," Chase said, looking at her even though it killed him to do so. " I'm sorry I called you all those names, and I'm sorry I threw the cushion at you. I'm especially sorry that Haiden fell and bumped his head because of what I did."

Hope stood up straighter, her nose in the air. "You should be!"

"Hope…" Aiden said gently.

Hope looked at him, and she opened her mouth as if to say something, then she thought better of it. She sighed, and looked at Chase. "Apology accepted. But didn't think for a second that means you can come back to live with us. That ship has sailed."

Chase rolled his eyes. "Don't worry. Your place is the last place I wanna stay."

Hope nodded. "Good because you won't be staying there." She turned to Aiden. "Jeremiah is still in his holding cell. You wanna come down with me? I figure it's best he's behind bars if you're going to talk to him."

"But I can't hurt him if he's behind bars," Aiden said; disappointed.

Hope nodded. "Exactly."

"Let's go," Aiden replied. "I'll have to settle for choking him through the bars.

"Don't you dare! Let the police and judge handle it," Hope warned.

"Can I go?" Chase asked quietly. He didn't want to see him. He didn't want to at all. But at the same time, he had to no matter how much he didn't want to see him. He had to see him in order to be able to move on.

Hope hesitated. "I don't know if that's such a good idea."

Aiden shook his head. "Absolutely not! I don't want him upsetting you more than he already has. It's out of the question."

"Please," Chase said pleadingly, yet still quietly. He looked Hope in the eyes. "I need to see him so I can say what I need to say to him. It's the only way I can even try to move on."

Hope looked at his pleading eyes, and her hardened expression softened. "All right, fine," she said just as quietly. "You have five minutes, but that's it! And let me do the talking first." She looked at Aiden. "That goes for you too. And please don't cause a scene. Now is not the time or place for it."

Aiden looked like he was about to protest.

"It's either that or I don't let you back there at all," Hope warned.

Aiden sighed, knowing there was no arguing with the one-time commissioner. "Fine. I'll agree to your terms."

Hope smirked. "Spoken like a true lawyer." She turned to Chase and raised an eyebrow at him. "Do we have a deal?"

Chase nodded. "Yes. Let's just go and get this over with."

Hope nodded. "All right then. You two have to get checked in by security first, and then we can go down to see him."

Chase and Aiden then followed her, both eager to give Jeremiah a piece of their minds.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

Hope went in first. She made Chase wait right outside the holding room on a bench. She made a promise to come in and get him when it was his turn to talk. She wasn't going to let Aiden come with her, but he pleaded with her, so she gave in. Besides, she knew she'd just end up telling him everything Jeremiah had told her anyway. This way would save her the hassle.

"Let me do the talking first," she ordered, "or you will be right back out there with your son."

"I'll behave," Aiden promised.

So, they headed in together, Hope walking a foot or two ahead of him.

She stopped at Jeremiah's cell.

"Well if it isn't Detective Brady! Or is it Detective Jennings now?" Jeremiah asked smartly.

"Detective Brady will suffice," Hope said, keeping her professional tone. "So, I'm surprised you were clumsy enough to be caught at the morgue."

Jeremiah sat down on his cot and shrugged. "I had to see my son one last time."

"How did he even get separated from you anyway?" Hope asked.

"I kicked him out of my life." Jeremiah said simply. "I told him that after he let Chase escape, he was no son of mine. Besides, we had less chance of being caught if we weren't together."

"Were you aware of your son doing drugs?" Hope asked.

Jeremiah laughed. "You're wondering about those track lines, aren't you?"

Hope just stared at him in return.

Again, he shrugged. "Hell if I know! He was a good boy, but he was also a screw up. Sometimes he needed to be slapped around so that he would learn his lesson."

"You mean like the lessons you taught my son?" Aiden asked angrily, running over to the bars and squeezing them so tightly his knuckles turned white. "He told me how you made him eat fish until he puked, then made him lick his own puke up at gunpoint! I have half a mind to kill you right now with my bare hands!" Aiden yelled.

Hope whipped around to face Aiden, and snapped at him. "Aiden, what did I tell you? Knock it off. _Now_!"

Aiden held his hands up. "Fine. I waited this long. I can wait a few minutes longer."

Hope glared at him then turned her attention back to Jeremiah. "How can you hurt your own son like that and then just abandon him?"

Jeremiah sighed. "Oh, Detective Brady, he needed discipline. Parents wonder why their children are such a mess nowadays. It's because they are too afraid to discipline their kid for fear of what people will say. I on the other hand am not afraid to discipline. He let Chase just walk out, and therefore he was the one that made us have to go on the run. I couldn't let him stick with me. If he got caught fine. That's what he gets for letting Chase go. But I'd be damned if he was going to be taken down with him."

"You son of a bitch!" Aiden yelled.

"Aiden, back it up!" Hope yelled, not even bothering to look behind her. She didn't have to. She could sense he was starting to walk toward the bars again.

Aiden reluctantly obeyed.

"The autopsy report showed that he died of a drug overdose—heroine to be exact. Did he have a history of using heroine?" Hope asked, an eyebrow raised.

Jeremiah shook his head. "He barely even liked to do weed. The kid was weak. He probably ended up overdosing on purpose because he was sad. The boy was always crying. I'd have to give him a reason to cry whenever he'd cry. No boy of mine was going to be a weak little baby. He said he was depressed. Why would he be depressed? At least he had a home. I gave him everything he could need. It's not my fault he let his only friend escape. He needed to learn there are consequences to his actions. If he wasn't going to appreciate the shelter, food, and clothes I gave him, then so be it. He who giveth can also taketh away. He didn't appreciate it, so I took it away. If that depressed him enough into killing himself, then it was his own damn fault!"

Hope felt sick. "You sicken me. I've had enough." She walked over to Aiden. "He's all yours."

Aiden got up, and grinned at Jeremiah through the bars, this was going to be fun.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

"How can you hurt your son like that and think nothing is wrong with hurting him?" Aiden asked, trying his best to be calm for fear of being bitched out by Hope if he wasn't.

Jeremiah shrugged. "Trevin could have behaved. He knew the consequences if he didn't behave. It's not _my_ fault he disobeyed me."

Aiden squeezed his fists together at his sides.

Hope placed a hand over his shoulder in a silent reminder to remain calm.

Aiden took a deep breath and slowly let it out. "Except for the fact that your son wasn't doing anything wrong. He just wanted to live like a normal twenty-something-year-old-guy. But instead he was kept prisoner in his own home and forced to grow marijuana."

"He was lucky I was still providing for him at that age! There is a certain way us Jacksons must act. He wasn't living up to what was expected of him. Plus, he deliberately disobeyed me. He needed punishment. Maybe if you had been more firm in punishing your son, he never would have raped your girlfriend's daughter!" Jeremiah gave him such a cocky smile that Aiden was ready to squeeze his neck until every last bone in it was broken.

"Aiden, I want you to take a breath and slowly let it out. Think very hard before you do anything stupid," Hope said gently.

"You better listen to your girlfriend. After all, you wouldn't want to end up in a jail cell next to mine, now. Would you?" Jeremiah asked in a tone so smart it was taking everything Aiden had in him not to react violently.

Aiden took Hope's hand and squeezed it to calm himself. "I was being held captive at the time and was therefore unable to be there for him. He thought I was dead. He felt all alone in the world, and he had a bad influence looking after him—a man who is almost as bad as you and your buddy Clyde are. It had nothing to do with the fact that I, unlike you, do not beat the hell out of my son. And as for the things you did to my son, I am going to do everything in my power as a lawyer to make sure that you rot in jail for a very long time for what you did."

Jeremiah smirked. "And what is a little defense lawyer going to do? Hm? Are you forgetting you're not part of the prosecution? I'd ask you to be my lawyer, but I'm sure there are much better lawyers than you around. Maybe I'll hire someone from your competition's firm."

Aiden glared at him. "Be my guest! My firm wants nothing to do with you. You disgust me!" He spat in Jeremiah's face. "Say hello to your friend Clyde for me." He turned to leave.

Jeremiah wiped his face with his sleeve. He grinned. He then turned his attention to Hope. "You're really going to marry someone who spits on someone like a child in kindergarten? Someone whose son raped your little girl? Should make for some interesting family dinners. Maybe Chase can try raping her again. I'm sure she's much better now that she's had a little experience." He winked at Hope and licked his lips. "She _is_ quite the looker after all. Heck, I'm sure you're pretty good yourself if you want to join me for some conjugal visits." He grabbed his crotch.

Aiden, who had heard this, headed back, no ounce of calm left in him.

Hope hurried on ahead; ignoring Jeremiah all together. She placed her hands over Aiden's chest. "Just keep walking. He is just trying to goad us both. Don't give in."

"Just let me kill him, Hope. Look the other way and let me kill him. We can say he went after me, and I killed him in self-defense. They'll believe me with you as my witness. Heck, maybe you could even shoot him. It would be one less low-life prisoner that tax payers have to pay room and board for," Aiden said as Hope forcefully turned him around and guided him out of the holding cell area.

Hope shook her head. "As tempting as that is, we can't. And don't even say such things in a police station. Are you crazy? There are cameras everywhere. Anyway, don't worry." She raised an eyebrow, her expression more serious and angry looking that he'd ever seen it. "He'll pay for what he did. It may not be through death, but you can mark my words… he'll pay."

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

Chase had talked Hope and Aiden both in to letting him go in alone.

"This is against my better judgment," Hope said to him. "If he starts hassling you, I won't you to leave. Don't let your temper go off on him. Trust me, it won't help matters."

"Are you sure? I don't like the idea of you alone with him," Aiden said, placing a hand over his shoulder. "I don't like it at all."

Chase rolled his eyes. "Relax. He'll be behind bars. This is something I have to do, and I need to do it alone."

Aiden nodded. "All right," he said quietly.

"Remember. Don't let him goad you into doing something that will get you arrested," Hope warned Chase.

Chase shook his head. "I won't cause any trouble. Don't worry." He then headed into the holding cell room, and wish shakiness and determination, he faced the monster.

Jeremiah sneered. "Well, well, well. The prodigal sons returns!"

Chase narrowed his eyes at him. "I am not your son! I never was."

"That's right. You never had what it takes!" Jeremiah said with a sneer. "You were always wining and complaining about something or another. You would have been better off dead in a car crash after all."

Chase bit his bottom lip. He would not let this sorry excuse for a man get to him. "Did you know your son raped me?"

Jeremiah looked at him in surprise. "What?"

Chase nodded. "That's right! He took your handcuffs from your room and cuffed me, pretending like they were fake cuffs. Then he forced himself on me. That's when I knew I had to get out of there."

"No way. My son was no queer!" Jeremiah said, shaking his head.

"Apparently he was because what I'm telling you is the truth. You abused me by cutting me, beating me, and forcing me at gunpoint to eat my own throw up. You kept me held hostage like a prisoner, and then your son raped me. And you wonder why I escaped! You weren't family to me, and neither was Trevin. Though, with you as a father, and the way you made him live, I can see why he turned out the way he did. The only difference is Trevin had the decency to know that what he did was wrong, and he tried to make amends for it by letting me go. You, on the other hand, still can't see how wrong you were. You just keep trying to justify things!" Chase had his fists clenched at his side, and his face was read. He was shaking. All the things he had bottled up inside had just come pouring out.

Jeremiah was quiet for a moment, and then he spoke. "If my kid really was a queer, then he is better off dead. As for you, well, it's a case of the rapist becoming the rape victim. If it weren't my queer son that did the raping, I'd actually find it kind of funny. How's that for karma, aye?"

Chase had tears in his eyes. "Maybe you're right. But make no mistake; karma will get you too—real soon."

"Ooo! I'm shaking in my boots!" Jeremiah yelled out sarcastically as Chase turned to leave. "It's not my fault you were weak. Maybe you should kill yourself too!"

Chase paused for just a moment, and then continued walking—a little faster this time. He then entered the room where Aiden and Hope were.

Aiden could tell that Chase was visibly upset. "Are you okay? What did he say to you? This is why I didn't want you going in there alone!" He tried to hug his son, but Chase pushed him away.

"I'm fine. I just wanna go. All right? I'll find a job soon, I promise, but can you pay for me to stay at the inn until I find one?"

Aiden nodded. "Of course."

"Chase, I promise he's going to pay for what he did," Hope said gently.

Chase looked at her. "Good. He needs to. But don't worry about me. I'm already over it. I told him what I had to tell him, and now I can finally move on. I'm not going to let him, or anyone else ever hurt me again." With that, he turned on his heel and headed out of the station.

Aiden and Hope gave each other a look of worry, and then followed him out.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

There was a knock on Chase's door at the Salem Inn. Chase sighed, assuming it was Aiden. It had taken Chase forever and a day to convince his father he was not going to try to kill himself again, and that Aiden did not have to stay with him. He had thought he had him convinced. He really wasn't going to try to kill himself anymore. He was still sad, but he knew now that killing himself was not the answer. God had a different plan for him, though he didn't know what.

He climbed out of bed, annoyed that his dinner and movie was being interrupted by his over-protective father. He walked over to the door. "Dad, you've barely been gone fine minutes. I told you I wasn't going to try to kill myself again," he said angrily as he stomped over to the door and yanked it open. He was surprised to see that it wasn't his father on the other side of the door.

"Well that's good to know! Do you mind if I come in? Of course you don't. I'm your aunt," Carol said, walking past him before he had a chance to say anything else.

Chase shrugged. "Come on in," he said, half sarcastically as he shut the door behind her. "If you've come to babysit me, you're wasting your time. I told my dad I'm not going to kill myself, and I meant it. He didn't have to send you."

Carol smirked. "Your dad doesn't even know I'm here." She sat down on his bed. "And I'm not here to babysit. I'm here to give you a proposition."

"What kind of proposition?" Chase asked.

"Well, I want you to move in with me," Carol said simply.

"But you said there was no room at Casey's; that you wanted your privacy," Chase reminded her. He wrinkled his nose. Come to think of it, he didn't want to stay in a small apartment where he could hear his aunt and her boyfriend being intimate. What had he been thinking? "I changed my mind anyway. No thanks!"

"Lately, Casey and I have been bickering. It's nothing major. We just realized we've been spending every waking moment together, and we need a little space. Not like a break or anything. It's not that serious. We just need our own places. And you know me, I hate living alone. I could use a roommate to keep me company and help me feel safe at night. I'm looking for someone who is a guy and related to me. You know, so I know I can feel safe, and I can trust him. Also, this way, Casey won't get jealous of me living with another man."

Chase looked at her. "I don't have any money yet to help pay the rent."

Carol shrugged. "I'm financially stable enough to pay for both of us until you're able to get back on your feet. I won't rush you either as long as you promise me you'll eventually try to get a job when you're ready."

"You don't need to ask me because you feel sorry for me," Chase replied. "I am not suicidal anymore, and now that I know Jeremiah and Trevin can never bother me again, I can start to heal."

Carol knew that Chase needed healing from more than just Jeremiah and Trevin, though he'd never admit it. "I'm not asking you because I feel sorry for you. I'm asking you because I love you. I've been nothing but a horrible aunt to you in the past, and this is my way of making it up to you. Plus, I benefit from it too because I really do love you and want to be able to spend more time with you. I want to make up for lost time. I lost my parents, Chase. I don't want to lose my nephew too." She had tears in her eyes. "I didn't let you stay with me before. I'm not going to repeat the same mistake."

Chase then knew she was sincere. It touched his heart a little. It felt good that someone actually loved him that much. It even brought tears to his eyes as well. "You weren't and aren't a terrible Aunt, and you're not going to lose me. Okay, I'll do it. I'll move in with you. I promise to try to get a job soon too. I want to have my own money."

"Yay!" Carol hugged him tightly. "We can start looking for apartments ASAP. I don't really like Casey's apartment complex. It's not high-class enough for me. I know that makes me sound like a snob, but hey, I'm used to a higher way of living. What can I say?"

Chase grinned. "I can live with a higher way of living!"

Carol laughed, and hugged him again. "So, What'cha watching?" she asked, nodding toward the TV.

" _Gremlins_ ," Chase replied. "I just started it."

"Cool! I loved that movie as a teen! I know you have your fast food, but I'm starved for pizza. I'm gonna order one, and then we can watch this together if that's all right with you. Casey is working on some hotel tonight. Mind if I stay and watch with you?"

Chase shook his head. "Not at all, roomie-to-be. I'll even restart it for you. It's only been playing five minutes anyway."

Carol grinned big. "Awesome! But first I gotta pee." She then headed to the bathroom.

Chase laughed, and shook his head. "Living with his aunt Carol was going to be an adventure, he knew. Lucky for both of them, an adventure was just what he needed.


	64. S3E14

_**This Love…**_

 _ **Season 3 Episode 14: The Future Holds a Lion's Heart**_

Halloween was now approaching, and most of Salem was preparing for the annual Halloween party in the square. There was going to be food, a Halloween costume contest for all ages, games and prizes for the kids, and a Haunted hayride and haunted house for the adults. The kids could go trick-or-treating at the shops in the square, and the adults could dance in the park in the makeshift dance area that was set up right outside the square's gates.

It was the day before Halloween. Aiden had had to work, but Hope had headed to the square to costume shop. The twins had kept her so busy that she hadn't had time to shop for costumes. Today was the last day to do so. Carol had been nice enough to offer to stay with the twins while she went out searching for costumes.

She arrived at the square a half hour before they opened, but the café part was open, so she ordered herself a coffee and a bagel, and sat down to enjoy her breakfast and play with her phone.

Suddenly, a hand clapped over her shoulder and she jumped. She whipped around to see a man with a monster mask on his face.

"Care to dance The Monster Mash with me, Beautiful lady?" the man's voice asked.

Hope smirked. Even though he was using a "monster voice" she knew it was Aiden. "Why not?" she asked with a smirk. "You're a whole lot sexier than my boyfriend."

"Aiden pulled off the mask and grinned at her. "Are you sure about that?"

She grinned too. "Well, maybe my boyfriend is just a slight bit better looking." She held her thumb and index finger close together.

"Oh yeah? Just a slight bit?" Aiden asked, his eyes lowering with love for her as his lips moved closer to hers.

"Just a slight bit," she murmured, her own eyes lowered.

They kissed. She moaned, and then rested her forehead against his. "Okay, he's a lot bit sexier. And a _really_ good kisser," she murmured.

Aiden smiled, and kissed her some more. "Do you recognize the mask?" he asked her, holding up the gray mask that looked like a zombie face with bulging red eyeballs and longish white gray hair.

Hope tapped her lips with her finger and examined the mask. "It's does look oddly familiar." Her eyes lit up as it then dawned on her. "Is that the mask you tried to scare me with on our first Halloween together?" She grinned. "It is, isn't it?"

Aiden grinned too. "It is! We planned to watch _Coralline_ with the kids that night, but we never did. I don't remember why. I think it was because Bree was digging into things she wasn't supposed t be digging into, and I was too worried she'd find out about Chase to enjoy the night, so I cancelled. Right?"

Hope nodded. "Something like that I think. Gosh, that was ages ago!" She smiled at the memory of their relationship back then. It had only gotten better even after all the hurtles. So what are you doing here? Not that I'm not happy to see you," she said as he sat down in the other chair.

"I decided to come and help you pick out costumes after all. It's a slow day at work and I figured it might be something fun for the two of us to do together," he replied.

Hope grinned, and gently stroked his hair. "I can think of something else fun we could be doing together," she murmured.

"Mm, maybe we should get a room at The Salem Inn like old times," he murmured in return, his hands slowly running down her back.

"Maybe we should," she agreed. "But first costumes."

"But first coffee," he corrected her; signaling the waitress.

Hope smiled. "But first coffee," she agreed.

 _ **~*came back to me*~**_

After breakfast, Hope and Aiden held hands as they walked through the square toward the Halloween shop. Neither one of them had any idea what they wanted to be, so they decided just to go in and see what was available.

"Maybe we could go as a group," Aiden suggested as he held the door open for Hope.

"Thanks. Yeah, maybe. I know Carol said she and Casey talked Shawn and Claire into being the Scooby-Doo gang with them. Maybe we could do our own group. Ciara and Skylar are coming down for the party. She said she and Skylar wouldn't have time to pick out costumes with school and the animal hospital keeping them both so busy. Maybe we could include them in the group!" Hope suggested.

"Baby, can you be this? Please?" Aiden asked, holding up a very skimpy sexy cop uniform.

Hope rolled her eyes. "Must you be a pervert like every other man in this world?"

"When it comes to you and only you, yes!" Aiden responded with an eager nod. He held up the costume to her. "Please?"

Hope took the costume and hung it back up. "I'm a cop every day of my life. Halloween is the one day I can be something else."

"But not a _sexy_ cop!" Aiden reasoned. Hope shot him a look, a hand on her hip, and he regretted it as soon as he had said it. "I mean, you're always, always, _always_ sexy, but this outfit is a lot sexier than your regular uniform."

Hope smirked. "Nice save." She kissed him. "But the answer's still no." She walked on ahead.

"Why you gotta be so ru-u-ude?" Aiden sang/teased as he followed close behind her.

Hope shook her head and laughed, then took his hand and dragged him further into the store.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

"We could be the Addams family," Aiden suggested, motioning to the selection of Addams Family costumes. "I could be Gomez, and you could be my beautiful Mortisha." He took Hope's arm and kissed his way up it.

Hope grinned. "Maybe. The twins could be Wednesday and Pugsley."

"But then again, what would Ciara and Skylar be?" Aiden asked. "Uncle Fester and Cousin It? Something tells me Ciara would be disappointed with both those costumes."

Hope nodded. "True."

"We could all be movie serial killers!" Aiden said, picking up a Freddy Kruger costume. "Ciara would love that! I can be Freddy, you can be Jason, Ciara can be Michael Myers, and Skylar can be the guy from Scream. Oh my gosh, the twins can be Chucky and Tiffany!"

Hope shook her head, and crossed her arms over her chest. "No way am I dressing my babies up as evil serial killers!"

"You're no fun!" Aiden said with a pout as he put the Freddy Kruger costume back on the rack.

Hope smiled big when she saw a Dorothy costume. "I could be Dorothy, and you could be either the tin man or the scarecrow. Or the cowardly lion!" She pulled him closer. "I think you'd make a sexy scarecrow. And how cute would Haiden be as the Cowardly Lion?"

"Ciara could be The Wicked Witch of the West. She'd love that!" Aiden said, liking this idea.

Hope nodded. "She would! Skylar can be Belinda the good witch!"

"Maddie can be a little munchkin. Wouldn't that be so cute?" Aiden asked.

"Adorable!" Hope agreed, grinning brightly. "But who would be the Tin Man?"

Aiden thought about it for a moment. He then grinned. "I got an idea."

He then took out his phone and called Lucas. He walked away while he made the call, and Hope went about filling her arms with the costumes they would need.

A moment later, Aiden came back. "He's up for it! His mom and Andre are going as Gomez and Mortisha of all things, so it's a good thing we didn't choose that! He wasn't even planning on going since he had no one to go with, but now that he does, he's thrilled to go with us. He said to get the costume in a size medium and he'll pay us back. Like we're going to make him pay us back!" Aiden was happy now as he picked up the Tin Man costume.

"Well you seem thrilled he's going." Hope gently nudged him and grinned.

Aiden smiled at her. "I am! I never had many guy friends, so it's nice to actually have one for a change. Tonight will be so much fun!"

Hope grabbed a little wicker basket with a stuffed black Toto dog sitting in it, his head poking up through the top of the basket. "I'm excited too!" She was happy Aiden was making friends. She loved him so much, and wanted him to be happy.

"I actually have to go now. I'm sorry to leave you with all this, but I have a client coming in, and I can't be late," Aiden explained. "Do you want my credit card?"

Hope shook her head. "I got it." She kissed him softly on the lips. "See you tonight?"

"You know it!" He said. He kissed her once more, and then practically floated outside the store.

Hope watched him leave, smiled, and shook her head. He was cute when he was excited!

 _ **~*came back to me*~**_

"I think we all look amazing," Aiden said as he looked over himself, the twins, Hope, Ciara, Skylar, and Lucas.

"I feel like I should be doing the robot!" Lucas said, making robotic movements. "Too bad Will's out of town with Sonny, Ari, and Gabi. He would have loved to see me in this in person!"

"You can always Face Time him at the party," Aiden suggested.

"I might just do that!" Lucas clapped Aiden on the shoulder. "Thank you again for inviting me. My mother invited me, but I didn't want to be _that_ guy, still hanging out with his mother at forty-something-years-old. Nor did I feel like spending the evening with the real life Addams family."

Aiden smirked. "I'm just happy to have a male friend for once! Talk about feeling like a loser! Nobody wants to be friendless."

Lucas laughed. "I hear ya!"

They all headed into the party, Aiden holding Maddie's transporter, and Hope holding Haiden's transporter. Haiden looked adorable in his little lion costume with non-toxic face paint to make it look like he had a nose and whiskers. Maddie was dressed like a one of the ballerina munchkins with a pink pointy hat. She had just a hint of blush on her cheeks, and a little bit of lipstick, which Kayla had assured them was baby safe.

Aiden was dressed in full Scarecrow attire, as was Hope in Dorothy attire. She had her hair in braids, and carried her fake Toto in a basket.

"I plan on brown-nosing everyone tonight!" Aiden said, making a play on his nose, which was painted brown for his costume

Lucas snorted, which made Aiden laughed, then Lucas laughed harder.

"That's so stupid it's funny!" Lucas said.

Hope shook her head and smiled as they walked through the gates into the square. Then, her smile frowned a bit as she saw Chase was dressed up with Carol, Casey, Jake, Shawn, and Claire.

Carol was Daphne, Casey was Shaggy, Jake was Scooby, Shawn was Fred, Claire was Velma, and Chase was a monster. Though, she had to admit, a monster was pretty fitting. She felt bad for thinking that, but in some ways, a part of her still felt that way about him. Maybe monster was a strong word, but still…

Carol grinned big, and rushed over to them when she saw them. "Of my gosh, you guys look so cute!" she gushed. "Aw! Little Maddie and Haiden are just too sweet!"

"Thanks. You guys look great too!" Hope said. "Shawn, come here a moment, would you?"

Shawn looked a little surprised, but then followed Hope to a few feet away from the others.

"What is Chase doing with you guys? Aren't you still angry with him for what he did to your sister?"

Shawn sighed. "Of course I am, but Carol begged Claire and me to be Fred and Velma. Look, I hated Chase for a long time after what he did. Heck, a part of me still does. But Claire said she feels sorry for him after what happened to him, and that he does seem like he's changed."

Hope looked at Chase from the distance. "I don't know. He still has so much anger built up inside him. He could have severely hurt Haiden—or worse!"

Shawn nodded. "I know, but in all fairness, Chase has been through a lot. Claire said she felt too mean excluding him. As a parent, I've always wanted to teach my child about forgiveness and giving people second chances. After all, if we expect second chances, then shouldn't we first give second chances? I'm still not his biggest fan, believe me. But he does seem very remorseful, and I didn't see the harm in letting him come with us. Our group costumes are funnier with a monster, and also I want to be a good example for Claire. Besides, it's not like I'm asking him to hang out at a baseball game just the two of us or anything. It's just one night at one little party."

Hope reluctantly nodded. "I suppose you're right."

Ciara came over then. "It's fine, Mom. It's whatever. I'm not going to let it ruin my night."

"Hope sighed. "Well, I suppose if you're okay with it, I have to be too…"

"It will be all right. Come on! Let's go have fun." Shawn nodded toward the party.

Hope reluctantly grinned, and followed after him and Ciara.

 _ **~*came back to me*~**_

"Well that haunted house proved to be not _so_ haunted," Ciara said with an eye roll as she, Skylar, Aiden, and Hope headed back to the main part of the square.

Hope and Aiden held hands as they walked along the orange and black light-lit pathway. Prior to the haunted house and hayride, they had all enjoyed a nice dinner of "mummy hot dogs", which were hot dogs wrapped in croissants, which made them look like mummies. They had ketchup drops for eyes. Of course they could add more ketchup or mustard as they wished. There were French fries cut in the shapes of witch hats and ghosts, and finally, there were cupcakes with jack-o-lantern faces on them. There was also candy galore, and "poisoned" candy apples that were covered in a green-like slime that Aiden and Lucas wouldn't have eaten if someone had paid them. Hope passed too because she didn't want that much sugar, but Ciara and Skylar both had one and claimed were delicious—they were green apple flavored.

"I think it was cute. They just didn't want to scare the kids too badly," Skylar replied.

"I hope the twins are still sleeping. I don't want to cause Carol and Casey and trouble," Hope said. Carol and the rest of "the Mystery Gang" had agreed to watch the twins while Hope and her group did the haunted house and haunted hayride.

However, when Hope, Aiden, Lucas, Skylar, and Ciara got closer to the twins, they found Chase sitting with them on a bench, one baby transporter on each side of him. Maddie was sleeping, but Haiden was awake, looking at Chase with teary eyes.

"Shh, don't cry, Sweetie Pie. Mommy and Daddy will be back soon," Chase gently soothed as he gently stroked Haiden's cheek with the back of his hand. He then took Haiden's hand and kissed it. "Don't worry. I'm not _really_ a monster. I'm just pretending to be one tonight. And by the way, I'm sorry I threw a pillow at your mommy and made you fall. I never meant for you to fall. I have some issues I need to work out, and I will. I promise never to hurt you again; not even by accident! I love you so much! You know, I didn't want you or your sister at first. I was angry when I heard your mommy was going to have you. But now I am so glad she did! You two make me feel that life is worth living. I never thought I'd feel this kind of love for you, but I do. I love you _so_ much. I didn't even know it was possible to love someone this much. Can you ever forgive me for making you fall out of your mommy's arms and hurting your head?"

It was just a coincidence, obviously, but Haiden suddenly grabbed his finger.

Chase grinned. "I'll take that as a yes! You know, not to make any other baby jealous, but you and your sister are the cutest babies to ever enter the planet! Especially in those costumes," Chase informed Haiden.

Haiden smiled. It was the first time Chase had ever seen him smile. He knew it was probably just gas, or whatever it is they say that causes babies to smile, but it made him smile too nonetheless.

Hope was surprised to see herself smile. She was even more surprised to see Ciara walk over to Chase and place a hand over his shoulder. "Happy Halloween, Chase."

Chase looked at her in surprise. "Happy Halloween. Um, Carol had to use the bathroom, and Casey took Jake potty. Claire was feeling sick, so Shawn took her home. I think she had too many candy apples," he explained.

"Maybe they were really poisoned," Ciara quipped.

Chase laughed. "Yeah, maybe," he joked back.

"I heard what you said to Haiden. It was sweet. It's still going to take me a while to get over what you did to me—if I ever do. But I can see you really are trying to change, and I can respect that," Ciara said to him.

Chase's face lit up. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," Ciara said.

Hope looked over at Aiden who was grinning a grin that would put the Cheshire Cat to shame. She smiled too. She supposed if Ciara could give Chase a second chance, then so could she. Even so, she was going to be keeping and eye on Chase. He had to earn his way back into the fold, and it was going to take more than some sweet words to his little brother to do so!

 _ **~*came back to me*~**_

Ciara and Skylar offered to take the twins home and stay with them for the night. Aiden wanted to have a romantic night with Hope. Hope was hesitant about leaving the twins, but Ciara insisted that she would love this time to have the twins all to herself. Skylar also was keen on watching them. She loved babies. So, Hope had agreed, but under the condition that she got to tuck them in. She wanted to pack her overnight bag anyway.

"I wanted to have at least one dance with you in the park before we go," Aiden said to Hope.

"We'll get them in the car while you guys do that," Ciara said, taking Maddie while Skylar took Haiden. "We'll be careful," she said upon seeing Hope's worried look.

Hope nodded, and let them go.

"Thank you for coming. I'm sorry to dump you like this," Aiden said to Lucas.

Lucas shook his head. "It's fine. I'm just going to go say goodbye to my mother, and then head home." Lucas pat Aiden's shoulder. "Thanks for inviting me! I'll call you tomorrow about that game we talked about watching together."

"Thanks for coming. Yes! We can set up something for sure. Have a good night!" Aiden said, giving him a half hug in return

"Thanks. You too. Goodnight, Hope!" Lucas replied with a wave.

Hope waved and smiled. "Goodnight!"

Aiden then took Hope's hand in his own, kissed it, and led her out to the park underneath the fittingly full moon, the stars, and the black and orange fairy lights. "I'm so happy that Ciara is finally starting to soften toward Chase. I know it's just a baby step, but still… He can really use the encouragement right now, no matter how little."

Hope nodded. "My daughter never ceases to amaze me. I'm proud of her. And if she can cut Chase some slack, then I can try too."

Aiden pulled her closer and kissed her passionately. "I love you so much!"

She grinned. "And I love you, my Love." She raised an eyebrow. "But why are we slow dancing to 'The Monster Mash'?

Aiden laughed. "I have no idea! Let's do some _real_ dancing!"

"I've seen you dance before. Trust me, it's not real dancing," Hope quipped.

Aiden gasped. "Oh, I'd like to see you do better!"

"Oh, I will!" Hope said.

They both began to dance then, and neither one showed anything other than a lack of being able to dance. They swung their arms wildly in the air, and moved their legs so rapidly, they looked more like escaped mental patients than dancers. But they had fun, and by the end of the dance, they had collapsed against each other laughing.

"Okay, so neither one of us is ever going to be Fred Astaire or Ginger Rogers!" Aiden reasoned.

"But we had fun, and that's all that matters, right?" Hope asked with a smile as she leaned her back against his chest. His arms were wrapped around her stomach, and she placed her hands over his. She looked up at him.

He grinned too. "Right!"

They kissed.

"Come on." Hope offered her had to him. "Let's go get our babies in bed, then get on with our romantic night."

Aiden smiled, and took her hand. "All right."

They then headed hand-in-hand out of the park, smiling as they passed by an adorable minion Thomas with his parents dressed as Grue and his wife. Chad and Abby were staring into each others eyes looking just as in love as they were.

 _What a perfect night_ , Hope thought to herself. And it had only just begun.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

"I'm sorry the Salem Inn was booked. Our room above my office will have to do," Aiden said to Hope as they entered their special room above his office.

"No worries!" Hope said as she set her bag down. "We can always do the Salem Inn another night. At least we have a beautiful view."

"I have a beautiful view every time I'm with you," Aiden said, pulling her close.

"You say that every time I mention a beautiful view," she murmured.

"And it's true every time," he murmured back,

They kissed.

"I got something for you," Hope said suddenly.

Aiden smiled at her. "What?"

Hope smirked at him and raised an eyebrow. "I'll be right back." She then disappeared into the bathroom with her overnight bag.

Aiden lit some candles while he waited, and opened the curtains wide. No one could see them up there. He wanted a beautiful view for their special night.

When Hope came out ten minutes later, his mouth dropped open. She was wearing the skimpy cop uniform he had wanted her to buy. "You went back and bought it," he said, stating the obvious.

She nodded, and bit her bottom lip. "Do you like?" she asked breathily.

"Like? Baby, I love!" He looked her up and down and bit his own bottom lip. "Mm!" She was wearing fishnet stockings and thigh-high pleather black boots. Her black shorts were barely long enough to cover her butt, and her blue denim shirt was tied to just below her breasts, exposing her flat stomach. As far as he could tell, she didn't have a bra on underneath. On her head was a police hat. Her badge was clipped to her shorts, and she had a pair of handcuffs hooked to the belt loop of her shorts. The finishing touch was a police club she held in her right hand.

She walked over to him and stopped so close that their bodies were touching. "I'm going to need you to get on the bed, Mr. Jennings," she purred, slowly backing him toward the bed.

He held his hands up. "You may need to search me. I'm packing a weapon," he said, playing along.

Hope raised an eyebrow. "I think that calls for a strip search!"

"By all means. I won't stop you," Aiden said, lying down on his back.

Hope grinned a Cheshire cat grin and climbed on top of him. She unbuttoned the shirt he had changed into before coming over there. She kissed his skin as she exposed it, from the top of his chest to his stomach.

"Is this normal protocol?" Aiden asked, still playing along as she tossed his shirt aside.

"I have to check every inch of your body. You know, since you have a concealed weapon and all," Hope purred. She slowly undid his belt, and then undid his zipper with her teeth.

He sucked in a deep breath and slowly let it out.

She pulled his pants down to his ankles, and then pulled off his shoes. She looked them over. "No shoe bombs," she said with a smirk before tossing them to the floor. She took off his socks, and rubbed his feet. "No concealed weapons here either." She took his pants the rest of the way off, then raised an eyebrow at him. "There's only one place left to look."

"I guess you should look then," she said, his breaths rapid, but shallow.

"I guess I'm gonna have to," she said. Slowly she pulled off his underwear, then tossed it to the floor. "I see you have a gun," she said, an eyebrow raised again.

"And it's fully cocked and loaded," Aiden quipped.

Hope kept a straight face. "I'm going to have to confiscate that, Mr. Jennings."

"Feel free to take it for a test drive," Aiden said before bursting into laughter, no longer able to keep up with the charade.

Hope burst into giggles too, and soon they were collapsed on top of each other, laughing so hard they had tears in their eyes.

"It sounds like we're filming a bad porno!" Aiden joked.

"It _was_ pretty ridiculous, wasn't it?" Hope teased.

"You know what?" Aiden asked her, turning serious now.

"Hm?" Hope asked, also calming down.

"I want to make love to my beautiful Hope, whom as sexy as she is in that outfit, doesn't need it. She is already the sexiest woman alive—no costume needed," Aiden murmured, gently stroking her hair.

Hope's eyes lowered with love for him. "Oh, Aiden…" she said quietly.

They began to kiss, and Aiden got on top of her.

"I think it's my turn for a strip search," Hope purred.

"Aiden moaned, his hands already moving to untie the ties of her blouse. "I'm already on it."

 _ **~*came back to me*~**_

They lie in each other's arms after their lovemaking, both content to be in each other's arms. "I got one more thing for you. And don't get your hopes up. I'm not proposing on Halloween. It's not romantic enough," Aiden said, getting out of bed.

Hope pouted. "Then what is it?"

Aiden held up a DVD to her.

She scrunched her eyebrows together. " _Coraline_?"

Aiden nodded. "It's the movie we planned to watch with Ciara and Chase when they were kids, but never got to it. It might seem silly since they are all grown up now, and not even with us. Not to mention the fact that we're adults, but adults can watch kids movies too."

Hope grinned. "It's perfect!"

Aiden smiled "I did good?"

Hope nodded. "You did good. It's a very romantic gesture."

"I even got candy corn instead of pop corn!" he said, tossing her a bag.

"My favorite!" she said with a grin. "You thought of everything."

"Nothing but the best for my baby," Aiden replied. He then put the DVD in, and then climbed back into bed, and pressed play on the remote. He put the remote down, and then took Hope in his arms again. "I _will_ propose to you. Just not until the time is absolutely perfect," he told her.

She looked at him. "And when you do, you know I'll say yes."

They kissed some more, then cuddled together as they watched their movie.

 _ **~*came back to me*~**_

Chase smiled as he lay in his bed, despite the fact that Chucky was currently trying to kill Andy. He was just so happy that Ciara was finally starting to forgive him! He also couldn't help but smile as he thought of Haiden grabbing his finger and smiling at him. His heart swelled for both Haiden and Maddie. If they loved him, then nothing else mattered. He vowed then and there that he was going to be the best big brother they could ever ask for. He had made a lot of mistakes in his life, but with Haiden and Maddie, he was going to be a better man, for they— especially Haiden—had showed him what love was.

 _ **~*came back to me*~**_

As Aiden held a now sleeping Hope in his arms after the movie, he couldn't help but smile. Today had been so perfect! He and Lucas were becoming fast friends, Ciara was finally starting to forgive Chase, Haiden seemed just as enamored with Chase as Chase was with him, and he, Aiden, was able to spend a romantic night with the love of his life. He had to say, this was definitely the best Halloween yet! And he knew that there would be many more to come. He kissed Hope's cheek, then blew out the candles before letting sleep overtake him too, with Hope tucked safely in his arms.


	65. S3E15

_**This Love…**_

 _ **Season 3 Episode 4: On the Verge of Something Wonderful**_

"How are my two adorable little babies?" Aiden asked Haiden and Maddie as he came home from work one evening in early November. He kissed Haiden's cheek, and then Maddie's. They were sitting in their baby seats, looking around the room. Daddy got you both something." He opened his briefcase and took out a little stuffed while kitty small enough to fit in Maddie's hand. He put it in her little hand, and to his delight, she gripped it. "And for my little Haiden, a black doggie!" he handed Haiden the same toy, only it was a black dog instead of a white cat. He placed it in Haiden's hand, and was even more pleased to see that Haiden also gripped it. He kissed both their heads. "You like them?"

"I think they do," Hope said with a smile as she came in from the kitchen with their bottles.

"And how's my sexy baby doing?" Aiden asked her.

She grinned. "I'll be doing fine if you help me out with the feeding." She kissed him lovingly on the lips. "How was work today?"

"It was all right. I missed you and the twins though," he replied, taking the bottle she was handing him.

They each picked up a baby after releasing them from the seats, and carried the twins to the couch to feed them.

"We missed you too. Well, at least _I_ did. You can never really tell with the twins." Hope smirked. "Though, Maddie has been a little fussy today as usual. I don't hear her fussing now."

"It's because Daddy's home, isn't it, Mads?" Aiden asked Maddie in a baby voice as he fed her.

Maddie looked up at him, only breaking her gaze to blink, as she drank her bottle, looking completely content.

Hope sighed. "I've been thinking, now that it's been a couple of months, I'd like to go back to work. I really miss it, Aiden. Don't get me wrong, I love being here with the twins, but I also need to work. Being a cop is in my blood. I've already been away from it for far too long."

Aiden looked at her. "Whatever you need. I can call the nanny agency before dinner and see about setting up some interviews."

"So you're not angry?" Hope asked.

Aiden looked at her funny. "Baby, why would I be angry? You love your job. I know how important it is to you. Would I rather have you home safe with our babies instead of you out fighting crime and putting yourself in danger, yes! But I'm not going to stop you from doing what you love. Your happiness is my priority."

"I love you so much!" Hope said to him.

Aiden leaned over to kiss Hope, careful not to disturb Maddie or Haiden. "And I know you're the best cop there is. I still worry, but I'll worry more if you're miserable."

Hope smiled big. "You're the best! I want to make sure whomever we get is well qualified though. I'm not just going to hand our babies over to the care of just anyone."

"Which is precisely why I want us to find someone through the agency instead of through an ad in the paper," Aiden said with a nod. Maddie finished her bottle, and he placed a burp cloth over his shoulder. He then gently burped her.

Hope followed suit a moment later with Haiden when he finished _his_ bottle.

"So, what should we do tonight for dinner?" Hope asked. "We could take the twins out. They seem to like going for a walk in the park and being outside. We can eat at the square."

Aiden nodded. "That's a good idea. It is a rather warm night for it being November."

"Seventy-five degrees!" Hope agreed with a nod.

"Just let me go change and then call the agency. Then we can go. But first, I think I need to give Maddie a changing!"

Hope wrinkled her nose. "I think Haiden needs one too."

They grinned at each other, and then stood up to carry their babies upstairs to the nursery's changing tables.

 _ **~*came back to me*~**_

"You were right. They both look ready to clock out at any moment," Aiden said as he and Hope sat at the Square's café and watched the twins falling asleep in their double stroller.

Hope smirked. "See? I told you that walk through the park first would calm them. Now let's just hope they still sleep tonight!"

"I'm sure they will. We've been pretty lucky when it comes to them sleeping," Aiden said.

The waitress came then, and they gave their drink orders, and then looked over their menus.

"I'm glad Amy's not working here anymore," Hope said simply. "I looked her up. She moved to Florida." She grinned.

"You looked her up?" Aiden asked with scrunched eyebrows. He then grinned. "Are you really still jealous of her?"

Hope raised an eyebrow. "Why would I be? You broke up with her because you still had feelings for me. Remember? I was simply just curious; that's all."

Aiden wasn't buying it. "But what would it matter if she still worked here or not then? You just said you're glad she doesn't work here any longer."

Hope hesitated.

Just then the waitress came back with their drinks, ready to take their food order.

Hope quickly ordered what she wanted.

Aiden smirked. _Saved by the waitress_ , he thought. When Hope was done, he ordered too, and then waitress left to put their orders in.

"I'm actually grateful to Amy. She sent me your way when you were drunk and in the square, bothering people," Hope commented before sipping her blackberry lemonade.

Aiden nodded. "I had forgotten about that! You soon couldn't resist me."

"Because you're just so charming when you're drunk," Hope teased.

Aiden smirked. "I rarely drink, and that's partly why. I never really saw the point of alcohol."

Before Hope could respond, Steve and Kayla appeared. They were passing through the café as they shopped. They stopped when they saw Hope and Aiden.

"Hi! How are you?" Kayla asked friendlily.

Hope stood up and hugged her. "We're all doing well, thanks. How have you guys been?"

"We're doing well too," Kayla replied. She then smiled at the twins. "Aw! They are even cuter when they sleep!"

"And when they aren't fussing or crying," Aiden joked.

"That's what babies do. Maybe you should have had them if you didn't want the responsibilities," Steve said simply.

Kayla shot him a look.

"Steve, that was uncalled for, and you know it! He was only joking!" Hope chastised.

"Was he?" Steve asked with a shrug. "You never know with him, do you?"

"Steve, I don't know what the problem is, but I assure you, I was only joking," Aiden said gently. "I love those twins more than my life."

"Well then maybe you should have stayed dead when we thought you were dead," Steve said simply. "God knows the twins would do better with a father like Rafe."

"Steve, stop it! Now is not the time or place!" Kayla was the one to chastise him this time. "Anyway, if it weren't for Aiden, the twins wouldn't be the twins, you know."

"Steve, Rafe and I are over. We've long since been over, and you need to accept that!" Hope snapped. "I love Aiden, and you also need to learn to accept that as well!"

"And how do you think Bo would feel about all of that after he went to all the trouble to ask Rafe to look out for you? He knew Rafe was the better man for you!" Steve asked, his arms crossed over his chest.

Hope shook her head. "I can't believe you just said that."

"Well it's true, isn't it?" Steve asked simply.

Hope glared at him. "For starters, Bo never even knew Aiden to be the judge of that. Secondly, Bo would just want me to be happy. I'll have you know, I am _very_ happy with Aiden. And I pick my own men, thank you! No one has the right to pick for me—not even Bo."

"You're seriously going to go back to this jackass after all he's done to you?" Steve asked, motioning with his thumb and nodding backward toward Aiden.

"I'm not that same person anymore," Aiden insisted.

"I'm not talking to you," Steve snapped, not even bothering to look at him. He kept his eyes on Hope. "I mean, he got you pregnant when you were still with Rafe. I think that says it all right there that he hasn't changed."

Hope narrowed her eyes at him. "In case you didn't know," she said sarcastically, "he didn't act alone. I had a little part in that. Do you think that makes me a bad person too?"

"You were distraught over the loss of your twins. You didn't know what you were doing. He took advantage of that," Steve said simply.

Hope laughed bitterly. "Oh, trust me, Steve; I knew _exactly_ what I was doing. I wanted it, and I wanted Aiden. Not that any of this is your business, because it certainly is not!"

"I will not make excuses for my prior actions," Aiden stated. "You're right. I'm undeserving of Hope. I know it. But lucky for me, she is a kind and forgiving person, and she is willing to give me another chance. I promise you, I am not going to let her down or keep secrets from her, or plot to kill her anymore. None of it! If I do, I fully expect you to kill me yourself," he said to Steve.

Steve finally looked at him. "But what if it's too late, and this time, you really do kill her?"

"I couldn't go through with it last time even with my son's life at stake. I couldn't go through with it now either. I would never kill _anybody_ , let alone the woman I love. I would never even _plot_ to kill anybody anymore. I had a lot of therapy when Hope and I were separated, and I've changed. The only one I would ever feel like killing now would be anyone who tries to hurt Hope," Aiden explained.

Steve shook his head. "Yeah, well whether or not you've changed remains to be seen. I still don't trust you, Jennings. I never have, and frankly, I don't know that I ever will."

"Well, I will look forward to proving myself to you then," Aiden said simply.

"You don't have to prove yourself to anybody," Hope said to Aiden. She glared at Steve coldly. "Please don't ever talk to my boyfriend like that again—especially not in front of the twins."

"Whatever," Steve grumbled.

Kayla, who had been watching helplessly, put her hand on her husband's arm. "Steve, you love Hope as if she is your sister. Please respect her wishes. It's her decision; not yours or even Bo's, like it or not. From what I've seen of Aiden for the past year and five months that he has been back, he really has changed. He's been nothing but good to Hope and his children. So please, cut him some slack—for Hope's sake if nothing else."

Steve slowly nodded. "I'm sorry to interrupt your dinner," he mumbled to Hope.

"I'd like to have you over for dinner some night soon. You can even bring the twins. They are so adorable, they are welcome any time," Kayla said to Hope.

"Maybe I'll send just the twins over sometime then," Hope joked.

Kayla laughed. "As long as I'm not working, go right ahead! I'd love to watch those two little cuties!" She gently stroked their cheeks.

"I only work weekdays, and I'm out by five, or six at the very latest. I'm not sure what Hope's schedule will be, but we'd love to come over for dinner sometime," Aiden commented. "I'll even bring the wine."

"I believe she invited Hope and the twins. I didn't hear your name mentioned," Steve snapped.

Kayla glared at him. "Why don't you go on ahead? A walk will do you good. I'll be right there."

Steve looked at her as if he was going to say something, but she shot him a look that dared to defy her. He nodded. "See you around," he grumbled to Hope, and then he walked on ahead.

"Sorry about that. He's like my brother, Bo. He can be very hot headed. I'm surprised those two were ever able to become best friends. They are/were too much alike!" Kayla apologized, blushing, and clearly embarrassed.

Hope smiled. "I know that's right!"

"Don't even worry about it. I don't have to come. I'm sorry I kind of invited myself there," Aiden said courteously.

Kayla smiled gently at him. "Of _course_ I meant you too. You come along. I'll have a talk with Steve. Trust me, by the time I'm done talking with him, he'll know better than to say a single unkind word to you."

Aiden gently laughed. "Thanks, Kayla, for sticking up for me, for believing in me, and for giving me another chance."

Kayla smiled weakly at him. "I meant what I said. I can see you've changed. Besides," she turned her attention to Hope. "I'd do anything for my former sister-in-law!"

Hope smiled happy tears in her eyes, and stood up to hug her. "Thanks. Kay. That really means a lot! I'd do anything for you too. And as far as I'm concerned, you're still my sister. No former about it!"

Kayla hugged her tight and kissed her cheek. "You guys take care. I'll call you soon about that dinner." She paused to say goodbye to babies, then left after Hope and Aiden had bid her farewell.

"Well that was interesting," Aiden said once she had gone.

Hope placed her hand overtop of his. "I'm sorry about that," she said, her eyes sympathetic. "You know I know you changed, right? And that I love you very much? Even more than I did before if that's possible?"

Aiden took her hand and kissed it. "Of course!"

Hope grinned. "Good!" They kissed across the table, and all was well again.

Even so, Aiden hoped that Steve would change his mind about him soon. It was kind of unnerving that Steve hated him so much.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

"Thank you for meeting with me," Father Lewis said to Chase as Chase entered his office.

"Thank _you_! It's because you agreed to be my mentor that I don't have to see a shrink," Chase quipped as he sat down in the chair in front of Father Lewis' desk. "I know, you want me to see one aside from you, but I assure you, I don't need to. You're helping me plenty."

Father Lewis gave him a weak smile. "I'm glad you feel I am helping you. "So, anything new? How are things going with your father and Hope?"

Chase shrugged. "Okay I guess. Hope tolerates me now that I'm out of the house. Dad's always busy doing something with the twins and Hope, but he calls me every day in the morning and at night, plus, he visits me a few times a week. I guess I don't take it too personally. Babies are a lot of work—especially when there are two of them. And of course his work keeps him busy too."

"I'm happy to hear you say that. So you no longer think your father has replaced you?" Father Lewis asked.

Chase shrugged. "Sometimes I still do, but most of them time I understand. I just miss him sometimes. We used to do something together every day. Now I'm lucky to see him times a week."

"Have you tried talking to your father about this?" Father Lewis asked. "I'm sure if you tell him you would like to spend more time with him, he'd gladly oblige."

Chase nodded. "I know. But my sister and brother need him. I'd feel kind of guilty asking him to spend less time with them."

Father Lewis smiled softly at him. "I'm sure he'd understand. And there's nothing wrong with you needing your time with your father too. You may not be a baby, or even a kid anymore, but that doesn't mean you don't need your father too. Why don't you as him to spend an evening with you for some father-son bonding time? You can have dinner together, see a movie, or do anything else you'd like to do together."

Chase nodded. "I suppose I could do that."  
"And how are you holding up with the whole Jeremiah situation?" Father Lewis raised an eyebrow. "Isn't the trial coming up soon?"

Chase nodded. "They expect me to testify. I am the only one who can put him in jail for a long time," he confirmed.

"And how do you feel about that? Are you going to do it?" Father Lewis asked.

Chase nodded. "He must pay for what he did to both me and Trevin. I don't hate Trevin anymore. After seeing how cold Jeremiah was toward him and still is even after he died, I can understand why Trevin did what he did. After all, I did the same thing when I was going through difficult times. I'd be a hypocrite not to be a little understanding. Don't get me wrong, he and I were both wrong in raping people. There was no excuse for it. But I understand why he did it is all I'm saying, and I can no longer hate him for it. I thought my dad was dead and an attempted murderer and his dad abused him, and never seemed to love him."

Father Lewis nodded. "I'm very proud of you, Chase. You're owning up to your mistakes, and learning to forgive others for theirs. You're definitely getting back on the Godly path."

"I hope so!" Chase said. "Now I gotta find a job so that I don't feel guilty about sponging off my Aunt Carol. She invited me to live with her. We're actually going to look for a place right after I get out of here. I'm excited about it."

Father Lewis smiled. "I may be able to help you out with that. Our parish can use someone to help out around the church. You'd have to clean the bathrooms and make sure the kitchen stays in order. You'd have to do things like vacuum all the carpets in all the rooms and make sure the Bibles are back in their holders behind the pews."

Chase raised an eyebrow at him. "You mean be a janitor."

Father Lewis nodded. "For the most part, you wouldn't have to worry about the school side. They have their own separate janitor. But the parish itself needs one. It doesn't pay much, but at least it would get you some money to help out your aunt or even simply for spending money for yourself. You'd get a hundred dollars a week after taxes."

Chase thought about it for a moment. He had never wanted to be a janitor, and the idea of cleaning out bathrooms made him want to vomit. But right now he really needed a job, and there were no other offers. Seeing as he had never really had a job before, not many people were looking to hire him. This was a start at least. He looked up at Father Lewis. "I'll take it! Thanks for the offer. When do you need me to start?"

Father Lewis clapped his hands together and grinned big. "Wonderful! You can start next Monday at eight in the morning. It shouldn't take you more than four hours per day, and you'd be working every weekday. Of course not everything will need to be cleaned every day, but I'll leave it at your discretion what you feel needs cleaned and what doesn't. Some days the school janitor may ask for your assistance cleaning the school, but like I said, it won't be your official duty. It's only for days where the church doesn't need as much work, and you have the extra time. "

"No problem," Chase agreed.

"Excellent! I'll draw up the contract and have it to you by the weekend," Father Lewis told him.

Chase stood up. "Thanks again for both talking to me, and for the job." He extended his hand to Father Lewis. I greatly appreciate it!"

Father Lewis smiled. "Anytime. I'm just happy I am able to help The Lord by helping you." He stood up as well and shook Chase's hand, then walked him to his office door. "And good luck with the house hunting!"

Chase smiled at him. "Thanks! I'm sure my aunt and I will need it!" He then left to go meet up with Carol.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

"At least this one seems to be in a better neighborhood," Carol said as she drove to their next potential condo. The last one they had been too had been in the kind of neighborhood that one would not want to go walking or even driving around in after dark. In fact, the term "drive-by" had entered Chase's mind as they had made their way to the potential "condo" which had ended up not being a condo at all, but rather a small and very rundown-looking apartment.

"That real estate agent said that place was quaint and in a colorful neighborhood. She failed to tell us that quaint actually meant a piece of junk, and colorful meant it has a bunch of weirdo psychos for neighbors," Carol muttered.

Chase smirked. "Well, she is getting paid to make the place sound as appealing as possible. You have to give her credit. It suckered _us_ in."

Carol nodded. "True. But back when I was in real estate, I'd only agree to praise up houses if they were truly worthy of praising up. You're only wasting other people's time and your own time by not being truthful. They aren't going to take something once they see it for what it truly is."

She pulled up to a beautiful condominium complex. It was stunning from even just the outside. It was a white four-story building with a charcoal-colored roof. There were terraces all around the top floor, and glass windows for every condo that were from floor to ceiling. It was gated, with a guard waiting in a little booth.

"Names please?" the guard asked, looking over his list.

"Carol and Chase Jennings. We're here about renting a condo," Carol replied. "We have an appointment with Mellissa Benning."

"May I see your IDs please?" he asked, holding out his palm.

"Oh! Uh, sure." She dug into her purse as Chase dug into his wallet. "Well at least we know we'd be safe here!" she joked to Chase as she found her ID. She handed it to the guard, and then took Chase's from him and handed that to the guard as well.

The guard didn't even thank them. He looked carefully at both IDs, studying them as if making sure they weren't fake. He then checked Carol's and Chases' faces to make sure they really were who the IDs said they were. He then handed the IDs back. "Pull right in. Happy hunting." He opened the gate.

"Thank you kindly!" Carol said, driving in.

They found a nice spot, then headed to the lobby and checked in.

The real-estate agent overheard them and came right over. "Hi! I'm Mellissa Benning. You must be Carol and Chase Jennings."

"That would be us!" Carol said.

"Welcome! I won't waste any of your time. I'll get right to showing you around!" Mellissa told them with a wink and a smile.

Chase and Carol both smiled her hand and voiced their greetings and thanks, and then they were led into the elevator. Mellissa had a key that would allow them to access the particular floor they were headed to.

"You're going to love it! It's on the top floor, so you're one of the lucky ones who will have a terrace if you pick this place," Mellissa announced.

"Cool!" Chase said. He had been hoping to get one.

The doors opened, and Mellissa led them down a long hallway until they finally reached the condo in question. She unlocked the door for them, and then let them step inside first.

Chase followed in after Carol.

Carol whistled. "What a spectacular view! I think it might even be better than Hope and Aiden's office apartment view!"

Chase came in and looked out the large window. "Wow," he breathed.

Mellissa smirked. "I knew y'all would like it. Just wait until you go out on the terrace!"

Carol did just that then, unlocking and sliding open the glass door that led out to the terrace. The gentle breeze hit them. It was a surprisingly warm November day. The sun was shining along the lake, which they had the perfect view of. They could also see the tall business buildings that were on the other side of the lake.

"We'll take it!" Chase breathed.

Mellissa giggled.

Carol smirked at Chase. "There are still some important things we need to see first before agreeing upon this," she told him.

Chase nodded. "Sorry. I got over-eager." He grinned, and then headed back into the condo with Carol right on his tail.

It was a two-bedroom condo. The master bedroom had a terrace and the same view the living room had, and a beautiful Queen bed with white bed curtains all around it. It also had a large cherry wood dresser and a walk in closet. There was a huge big screen smart TV mounted on the wall in front of her bed for whenever she wanted to push the bed curtains back and watch television in bed.

"It also has a built-in DVD player," Mellissa explained.

"Lucky!" Chase said to Carol, knowing that this would be her room if they agreed to this condo.

"Oh, you have one too. Your bed is only a Full, and it has no curtains, but you do that the same Smart TV with built-in DVD mounted on the wall in front of your bed too," Mellissa explained to him.

Chase's eyes got wide. "Cool!" he repeated.

Inside Carol's bathroom was a large glass shower on one end, two sinks, and a huge mirror on another wall, a toilet, a medicine cabinet, and a vanity across from that sink and mirror wall, and across from the shower (the same wall the door was on) was a deep, white porcelain claw-foot bathtub.

Carol clapped her hands together, her eyes big. "I always wanted one of those!  
They headed out to the living room. That also had a Smart TV mounted on the wall with built-in DVD player. It wasn't as large as the bedroom TVs, but still quite large. There was am extremely plush and comfortable-looking white leather couch and matching loveseat. To the right, opposite the sliding glass doors, was a fully equipped kitchen with marble countertops and cherry wood cupboards. The dishwasher was white marble, and it matched the kitchen wall tiling. The floor was beautiful white hardwood like the rest of the house except for the bathrooms which were both white tiles with silver starbursts on them. There was a bar with four cherry wood barstools that had white cushions. There was also a small cherry wood table in the corner of the kitchen just big enough to sit two people. It had two cherry wood chairs with again, red cushions for that table.

"Last up is your bedroom and your bathroom!" Mellissa said to Chase.

His room was about half the size of Carol's, but it had a view of the in-ground pool out back and the hot tub, both of which were encased in a glass structure so that the pool could be used no matter what the season. His closet was normal-sized, but, aside from that and the smaller bed, he had everything else except for the view of the lake and terrace that she had. His bathroom wasn't in the bedroom like Carol's was, but it was right beside it. It had a smaller glass shower, only one sink, a toilet, mirror, medicine cabinet, and finally, a green Jacuzzi tub.

"This is the coolest place we're gonna get," Chase said, looking at his aunt.

"We've only seen two places so far," Carol reminded him. She smirked. "And one didn't really qualify as a place."

Chase shrugged. "I really feel no need to look any further. It's at a great location, and it's only ten minutes from work. I love it!"

Carol grinned. "I love it too." She then looked at Melissa. "We'll take it!"

Mellissa grinned big, and happily clapped her hands together. "Wonderful! I'll draw of the paperwork ASAP!"

Chase and Carol looked at each other and grinned. This was really happening! They were moving in together! Both were on top of the world.

 _ **~*came back to me*~**_

"I'm so happy for you, Son!" Aiden said as Chase called him to tell him about the condo later that night. "I'm proud of Carol for finally stepping up. It took her long enough!"

Chase laughed. "I know, right?" He then remembered Father Lewis' advice. "Dad, I've really missed you lately. Do you think that you and I could do dinner together sometime this week just the two of us?"

"I was actually just going to ask you that. How does tomorrow night sound?" Aiden asked.

Chase smiled. "That sounds perfect!" He then remembered he forgot to tell his dad about his job. He was about to tell him, but Aiden spoke before he could.

"And now that you need some money, I was wondering if you'd be open to coming to work at my law firm."

Chase hesitated for a moment. "Don't I have to go to law school if I want to be a lawyer?"

Aiden laughed. "Not as a lawyer, Dummy! I was wondering if you would like to do things like run errands for me and my associates. Get our lunches, drop off important documents, and take stuff to the bank. You can pick your own days off. You'd be running around a lot, but I can pay you two hundred bucks a week."

"That seems like a lot just for an errand boy," Chase said.

"Well, I pay my staff more than the average employer pays their employees. Most, if not all lawyers do, "Aiden replied.

"And it has nothing to do with me being your son?" Chase asked.

"Nope! Well, other than me asking you first before anyone else. But I'd pay you no more and no less than anyone else I'd get to do it. I've always wanted you to work with me at my law firm. Short of you getting a law degree, this is the way for you to work with me!" Aiden said cheerily.

Chase smiled. "Sounds like it would be a great opportunity. Can we wait and talk more about it at dinner tomorrow?" he asked.

"Of course!" Aiden agreed. One of the twins started crying in the background. "I gotta go. I'll pick you up tomorrow at six?"

"Sounds good," Chase agreed. "Goodnight, Dad."

"Goodnight, Son. I love you."

"I love you too."

"See you tomorrow." Aiden hung up.

Chase hung up too, and then lay down on his hotel bed. Well, this job paid more, but he had already promised Father Lewis he'd work as a janitor. It would be rude to bail out on him now. But on the other hand, his father was so excited. He hated to let him down again.

He sighed, and flipped on the TV. Oh well. He didn't have to decide tonight. He didn't have to tell his dad his decision until tomorrow. He smiled. But it sure felt good to go from no job aspects to two in less than a day.

He began watching his favorite show, feeling happier than he had in… Well, he couldn't remember when.


	66. S3E16

_**This Love…**_

 _ **Season 3 Episode 16: Neverland**_

"I'm so nervous. What if we can't find anyone good? Then what will we do when I go back to work?" Hope asked as she and Aiden sat on the couch of their home, waiting for the first potential nanny to show up.

"I can always take them to work with me. We have the nursery there for that very reason. They sleep most of the time anyway, and Tiffany or one of my other associates can always attend to them if I get busy," Aiden reasoned. He knew Hope was long since over her jealousy of Tiffany, and she knew that nothing had ever or would ever go on between him and Tiffany.

"I'd hate to make her do that. It's not part of her job," Hope replied.

Aiden shrugged. "It can be. Who says secretarial work can't include baby watching?" he teased.

Hope gave him an unamused look. "I mean it! I refuse to let our babies become a burden to anyone. I'll just have to postpone going back to work if we can't find anyone."

"Tiffany wouldn't see them as a burden. She adores them! But don't worry. The agency is sending us five options. Surely we'll find one we like. If not, then we can go to another agency," Aiden assured her as he gently rubbed her back.

The doorbell rang just then, and they both stood up.

"This is it!" Hope said nervously.

Aiden went over to answer the door, and opened the door.

"Hello. My name is Olga Ivanov. I am here to interview for the nanny position," a plump older woman with a big round nose said, stepping into the house without Aiden inviting her in. She had a Russian accent, and looked to Aiden like… Well… Like one of the witches from _Hocus Pocus_ —not the pretty one.He knew of the movie because, well, everyone knew about that movie and what the witches looked like whether they seen it before or not.

Hope smiled, and held out her hand to her. "I'm Hope, and this is my boyfriend Aiden. Hello."

Olga looked from one to the other with a funny look on her face. "You two aren't married?"

Hope pushed some hair behind her ear and smiled politely. She didn't see what business it was of hers, but she didn't want to be rude, so she answered anyway. "No, not yet. We plan on it soon though." She glanced at Aiden, who was blushing.

"So, you're engaged." Olga took Hope's left hand in hers and examined it. She then dropped her hand and looked Hope in the eyes. "No ring!" She looked at Aiden. "You too cheap to buy her a ring?"

Hope couldn't help but laugh. "We're not engaged yet. We're kind of engaged to be engaged if you would," she explained.

"You have two babies. Why on earth you take so long?" Olga asked.

"Really?" Hope asked, surprised that Olga was asking so many personal questions that were frankly, none of her business. "Wow. Um, how about we just discuss your capabilities as a nanny?" She motioned to the chair by the couch. "Please, sit."

Olga said down, and Aiden and Hope resumed their places on the couch.

Aiden looked amused. He didn't like this woman already, but he'd give her a chance. "So, how long have you been with the agency?"

"Just two years. But I worked privately as a nanny for four years prior to that," Olga explained.

"And what do you think singles you out from the rest of the nannies at the agency? Hope asked her. "Is there anything special you can bring to the table?"

Olga nodded. "Discipline. I think children need to learn discipline right from the start!"

"Well, our babies are only a couple months old," Aiden reminded her.

Olga shrugged. "It doesn't matter. You need to catch them early on so that they don't grow up to be brats! I will teach them that they will not get a bottle from crying. Only when they sit and wait patiently will they get their bottle. Same with sleeping. I will not get them out of bed until they learn to stop crying. There are better ways to communicate than by crying."

"Are you for real?" Aiden asked her.

She looked at him blankly. "I'm not sure what you are getting at."

Hope stood up. "I don't think you're going to be right for our twins. We don't believe in that kind of discipline at such a young age."

Olga stood up as well. "Not a problem. I'm not thrilled to be working in a house where the parents are living in sin anyway."

Hope walked her to the door. "Thank you for coming."

"Uh huh," Olga said before leaving.

Hope closed the door behind her and looked at Aiden, who was still sitting on the couch.

He looked amused. "I liked her!"

Hope rolled her eyes. "Yeah, right! I don't even know how she got a job at the agency. I feel sorry for any kids she's ever been a nanny to. Hopefully no one else will get stuck with her."

Aiden pulled her down onto his lap. "Now kiss me before I have to discipline you!" he teased in his best Russian accent, which was in reality also his worst.

Hope held a straight face. "Isn't kissing you the discipline?"

Aiden gasped, and Hope laughed.

"You're going to pay for that," he said, laying her down on her back and tickling her ribs.

Hope laughed. "All right, all right, I take it back!"

Aiden stopped tickling her.

Hope's eyes lowered with love for him. "Kissing you is a dream," she said breathily.

"A good one I hope?" Aiden said as he brought his lips down closer to hers.

Hope played with his hair. "Always."

Aiden moaned, and they kissed.

 _ **~*came back to me*~**_

It had been almost a week since Chase had gotten the two job offers. He had been honest with his father, and Aiden had been very understanding. He had promised Chase could work for whomever he wanted to work for, and he wouldn't get angry even if it wasn't with him. In the end, Chase had decided to try working for Father Lewis. He just wasn't sure he wanted to be an errand boy. He also wasn't sure he wanted to work for his father. He loved his dad, he really did, and he did want to spend more time with him. But working for him was different than hanging out with him. He wouldn't feel as independent with his father as his boss. He did wish that the church paid more, but he planned on this just being a temporary job until he found a real job anyway.

Though, he hated cleaning the bathrooms.

He now headed into the church's women's room and entered the first stall. He wrinkled his nose as he found pee all over the seat as well as a couple of poop smear marks on it as well. As if that weren't gross enough, there was blood in the toilet, and it appeared to be clogged by something.

"Come on! I thought women were supposed to be cleaner than men!" he grumbled. He pulled his rubber gloves up higher even though they were already up to his elbows and couldn't really go any higher. They just slid back down to his elbows.

"So gross!" he said as he tried plunging the toilet. After a few hard pumps, a bloody tampon showed up in the water.

Chase had to turn away. He felt as if he were going to throw up. And here he had thought that people at church of all places would be civilized!

He slowly reached his hand into the bowl, more grateful than ever for his gloves. "Gross, gross, gross, gross!" he said, picking it up by the string with just the very tips of his pointer and thumb and depositing the dirty tampon in the giant trash bag he had beside him. "Don't they know what the bins are for?" he grumbled as he then emptied the metal bin beside the toilet while he was at it. It was full, which he had no idea how that happened, for he had just emptied it the night before. Or had he forgotten to?

Anyway, he finished plunging the toilet, and then wiped the seat down with toilet paper. After he flushed everything down, he washed the seat with a cloth and a disinfectant spray. Finally, he cleaned the inside of the toilet, and moved on to the other one, grateful that those weren't as dirty. He was also grateful that it was only a three-stall bathroom. Though, even that was three too many for him.

 **~*came back to me.*~**

The next nanny was a very attractive blonde woman who, according to the agency was twenty-nine. Her big blue eyes had long lashes that looked very natural, and Hope couldn't help but wonder if they _were_ natural. Her lips were pouty, her breasts were ample, she had very shapely legs that went on for days, and her pink skater dress showed off her hourglass figure with a tiny waist.

"Well, hello there!" Aiden said, practically drooling out of his eye sockets once she had introduced herself as the next nanny prospect—Jessica Baker. He extended his hand to her.

She smiled a smile displaying perfectly straight white teeth.

 _The girl must have had braces as a kid…_ Hope thought to herself as she strode over to her and extended her hand. "And I'm Hope Brady."

Jessica shook her hand as well. "It's very nice to meet you, Mrs. Brady."

Hope didn't bother correcting the "Mrs.".

"Shall we have a seat?" Aiden asked, motioning to her toward the chair.

Jessica nodded, and sat down in the chair.

Hope and Aiden sat down on the couch, but Hope was barely listening as Aiden talked with her about her prior experience, and what she would bring to the table. She snapped out of it when they both started laughing at something.

Hope pushed some hair behind her ear, feeling a little self-conscious. "What's so funny?" she asked lightly with a fake smile.

"He's just telling me about how Haiden peed on his sister and made her cry," Jessica explained.

Hope smiled at the memory. She had been changing Maddie and he had been changing Haiden on opposite sides of the changing table with their little baby legs facing each other's. Aiden had reached for a wipe just as Haiden peed, and it landed on Maddie, who then proceeded to scream as though she knew exactly what she had just been sprayed with.

"Let's take you up to meet the twins," Aiden said to her.

Hope followed them up, and watched as Jessica cooed over them in their baby swings. She was really sweet to them, but as she later left with Aiden promising they'd let her know within the next day or two, Hope wrinkled her nose. "I didn't like her."

Aiden scrunched his eyebrows at her. "Why not? I know she only has five years of experience, but she comes highly recommended, and seemed very knowledgeable. The agency said she is the most popular nanny."

Hope laughed. "With that body, of course she is!"

Aiden smirked. "I see. You're jealous again."

Hope didn't even try to deny it. "So what if I am?" she asked, her head held high. "How many times do you hear about the husband and the nanny having an affair?"

Aiden took her in his arms and kissed the side of her neck. "But Baby, you know I'd never cheat on you. Not ever! Besides, she's like twenty years younger than me."

"Every man's dream!" Hope quipped.

"Not mine. Well, not in the romantic partner sense. I just really think she'd be a good nanny for the twins. I can see she's already smitten with them," Aiden reasoned.

"I want to look at the rest first," Hope said.

Aiden sighed. "Whatever you want."

Hope could sense his annoyance at her worrying he'd cheat, but she couldn't help it. She had been cheated on before. Not by Aiden of course, but by past boyfriends—Bo being one of them. She had not once thought any of her men would ever be the cheating type, but they had been. She knew Aiden was different, but she still didn't want to risk it.

She pulled Aiden close, and relaxed as he kissed the top of her head and held her tightly to him. She had lost him twice before, and she was not about to lose him again.

 _ **~*came back to me*~**_

Chase was exhausted by the time he finished cleaning the church. He had gone in a little earlier that day, so now it was only seven o' clock by the time he finished. He was going to go home to the hotel and get some room service, but as he walked home, he decided to stop at the Square for a late dinner. He figured it would be quicker than heading back to the hotel and ordering something in. He and Carol weren't allowed to move into their condo until the following week due to something about the renting cycle, or whatever. He hadn't quite understood it when Carol had explained it to him.

He sat down at the café, and was happy to be brought a menu right away. He ordered a Coke, and then looked over his menu as he waited for the waitress to come back with his drink.

Suddenly, he heard someone sit down in front of him.

"Mind if I sit here? I saw you sitting alone, and all the other tables are taken. I don't have time to wait for one. I have to work in an hour," came a female voice from across the table.

He put his menu down and looked at her. She was blond with short pig tails sticking out from the sides of her head. She had a streak of black in the left one, but not in the right one. Her lips were a bright red, and she wore a red and black silk lace up corset. She was pretty, but she was wearing way too much makeup, he noted. Her eyes were lined with so much black eyeliner and black mascara that he wasn't sure if her eyes resembled more of a raccoon or more of a spider. They were still really pretty aquamarine eyes though. He didn't think she needed eye makeup for them to be pretty. Her eyelids were dusted with a black eye shadow and she had a silver eye shadow going up to her eyebrows.

"Well?" She asked, tapping her blood red fingernails on the table. "Is it okay?"

"Uh… Sure." He felt a little weird, sitting with a stranger, but she was pretty so he allowed it.

The waitress came with his drink. He ordered a cheese burger and fries, and the girl ordered a Caesar salad and a water with lemon.

The waitress then left to put their orders in.

"You don't eat much," Chase noted out loud.

The girl shrugged. "I can't really pig out in my line of work." She then grinned big. "I pig out when I have my days off and have the time to work it off at the gym. Though, as much as I dance, I don't really have to worry about gaining much weight anyway." She winked and smiled at him.

"What kind of dancing?" Chase asked. He took a sip of his soda, expecting her to answer ballet or ballroom. Heck, he'd even expect hip-hop. He certainly wasn't expecting her answer.

"I specialize in exotic dancing," she answered simply.

Chase nearly choked on his soda. He grinned. "Yeah, right!" He could already tell she seemed like the type to mess with his head.

She pouted and insisted, "I am!" She raised an eyebrow at him. "Why? Don't I look pretty enough to be one?" She pushed up her corset-covered breasts. "Or busty enough? I know I'm only a B-cup, but guys still like to see them. Anyway, I'd rather be small than fake."

Chase looked around the square, sure he was being punked. When he didn't see any video cameras, or Ashton Kutcher jumping out to tell him he had been punked, he turned back to the girl. "What's your name anyway?" She intrigued him like no other even though he had only just met her a few minutes ago.

"Bridgette Carmichael." She extended her hand to him. "Or, if you'd rather call me by my stage name, then it's Silky Satin. It's cause I like to wear a lot of silk and satin." He winked at him as she stood up to motion her hands down her outfit. She was wearing skintight black, slippery-looking pants with black leather ankle boots that had stiletto heels. "Silk…" She tugged at her corset. "Satin!" She motioned to her pants.

Chase grinned. This girl was certainly a character, but for some reason, he was enthralled by her.

She sat back down. "So, what do _you_ do for work?" The waitress brought her water with lemon over, and she took a sip from it after thanking the waitress.

"I work as a janitor at the church I used to go to as a kid," he explained. He was kind of embarrassed about it, but he supposed it sounded better than unemployed.

She looked interested. "So, what do you have to clean there?" She smirked. "The Bibles?"

"I have to put the Bibles back behind the pews, and I need to vacuum and sweep the floors. Besides the sanctuary, the church has five rooms, not including two bathrooms and a kitchen," he explained.

"Do you like working there?" she asked.

He shrugged. "It's all right. Though, tonight I had the most disgusting clean up to do in the women's bathroom. I know women think men are the pigs, but after seeing that bathroom, I think it might be the other way around."

"Sounds like a pretty crappy job," Bridgette quipped.

Chase shot her a look.

"It's probably also very draining." Bridgette winked and smiled at him.

Chase lost his serious front and burst out laughing. "You're such a dork!"

"But at least I'm not the one scrubbing toilets," she teased. She then nodded at him. "What's your name anyway? I gave you mine. Now it's your turn."

"Chase Jennings."

Bridgette smiled. "That's a nice name. Chase. I love it! So, Chase, do you dance at all?" She raised an eyebrow at him. "My boss is always looking for new dancers, and my club has male dancers too. We just alternate nights at the club."

Chase laughed. "I dance a little, but I'm no exotic dancer!"

"Let me be the judge of that." Bridgette got up out of her seat, walked over to him, and grabbed his hand. "Come on! Show me what you got!" The Square's music could clearly be heard at the café, and it was currently a song with a nice beat to it.

"What? Here? In front of everybody? I couldn't!" Chase said, already blushing at the thought.

"Aw, come on! There's nothing to it! You're never going to see these people again anyway," Bridgette reasoned.

"I might!" Chase disagreed. "Salem's a small town."

Bridgette smirked. "Come on! You only live once!" She then began to dance, and he began to see why she was an exotic dancer. Her body moved in such a graceful, yet seductive way. She was alluring, and sexy…

"Come on," she gently coaxed him with a smile. "Just keep your eyes on me."

His eyes never left hers as he suddenly felt his hips swaying to the beat. He held his arms up in the air as he gyrated against her in a sexy, mid-pace sort of seduction as if his body had a mind of its own. He felt as if she had some kind of spell over him. He was enchanted by her.

The song ended, and a few fellow patrons cheered for them.

Chase blushed as he was snapped back to reality.

Bridgette grinned big and grabbed his hand as she led him back to the table. "See? Wasn't that _so_ fun? You really are a fantastic dancer! You know, I could get you a job. The pay is better than your average job, and that's not even counting the tips!"

Chase blushed. "I'd be far too embarrassed to ever do anything like that."

"I always thought I would be too, but you'd be surprised at how quickly you get used to it once the money starts rolling in. It's really not a bad job. I feel like strip clubs get a bad rep. But they are really quite classy. Well… Maybe classy's not quite the right word, but they aren't the trashy dives they have a reputation for," Bridgette explained.

Chase just smiled politely.

"Why don't you come see me dance tonight?" Bridgette suggested. "I'll tell the boss you're with me so you don't have to pay the cover charge."

Chase laughed. "Oh, I don't know…"

"Ah, come on! It will be fun! Don't worry. All you have to do is watch. Plus, it will beat the hell out of just going home and chilling by yourself. Won't it? I take it you don't have a girlfriend since you're here alone." Her big aquamarine eyes got wide. "Or do you?"

Chase shook his head. "No girlfriend."

Bridgette raised an eyebrow. "Boyfriend?"

Chase tried not to let the Trevin memories fill his head. "Nope! I'm as straight as it gets."

"Then come with me! Come see me dance. Please?"

As Chase looked into Bridgette's' big, pleading eyes, he sighed. He couldn't say no to her. Like earlier, it was as if she had some kind of spell on him. "Sure," he agreed.

She squealed with delight and happily clapped her hands. "Yay! You won't regret it. I promise!"

Their food came then, and they dug in.

Chase couldn't help but smile as they ate. This girl was cute. He wasn't really a strip club person, but she was right. Going out with her to a strip club to see her dance sounded far more appealing to him than just chilling by himself at the hotel.

 _ **~*came back to me*~**_

The next two nannies weren't any good. The first of the two was looking for her first job. Her only experience was having babysat for four years, but this would be her first nanny assignment. She seemed like a nice girl, but both Hope and Aiden agreed they would both feel more comfortable with someone who had more experience than just babysitting.

The second of the two just didn't seem friendly enough to them. She seemed sweet to the babies, but she also seemed far too serious, and not nurturing enough.

"This is the last of them," Hope said as she opened the door upon hearing the knock of the final nanny. She was surprised to see a very attractive male standing there. He had blue eyes and dark hair, and was of average height for a male. He was dressed in a dress shirt, perfectly creased khakis, and brown dress shoes.

He extended his hand to her. "Hello. I'm here for the nanny position. My name is Brad Freemont. You must be Hope."

Hope felt her cheeks flush as she shook his hand. He looked to be around Aiden's age. "Hello, Brad. It's nice to meet you." She wasn't expecting a male nanny. For some reason, she had always pictured a woman when it came to nannies.

"You must have pretty cute babies with a mother as beautiful as you," Brad said to her.

Hope giggled, and pushed some hair behind her ear. "Flattery will get you everywhere!" she teased as she blushed a deeper shade of crimson.

Aiden cleared his throat and walked over to them. He extended his hand to Brad. "I'm Aiden Jennings—father to the adorable twins and boyfriend to the beauty that is standing before you." He turned Hope's face gently with his hands and kissed her passionately.

Hope broke the kiss, blushing, only this time from embarrassment. It wasn't like Aiden to display such public displays of affection with someone they had just met!

"Please, come sit with us so we can discuss the twins, then we can introduce you to them. They are upstairs swinging in their baby swings. You'd be amazed how much it calms them," Hope said to Brad as she headed over to the couch.

Aiden was going to sit down on the couch next to her, but Brad got there first.

Hope crossed her legs and faced him, her cheeks still flushed.

Aiden rolled his eyes, and sat down on the chair beside the couch. "So, how long have you been nannying for, Brad?" he asked.

"Well, I've been a nanny since I was twenty-one. I have an associate's degree and I majored in child development. I also am CPR and first-aid certified in all ages," he explained. "I have worked with two families. One I babysat their twin boys for thirteen years until the family moved away for the father's job. The second family I took care of a five year-old-girl and her four-year-old brother for eleven years. The parents let me go when the kids got too old for a nanny. Now, here I am." He smiled big.

"Wow. It sounds like you're well qualified!" Hope said, clearly impressed.

"Do you think you can handle twins? They are only two months old. They can be a handful," Aiden asked him.

"As I said, I worked with twin boys before. They were in their terrible twos. After handling them, I'm positive I can handle infants." He smiled and winked at them.

Hope was grinning like the Cheshire cat. "I'll take you up to meet the twins."

They headed upstairs then. Of course they had the baby monitors on so that when downstairs, they could hear if the babies needed them.

They got into the nursery, and Brad walked right over to them with a gasp. "Oh my gosh, they are the cutest little things I've ever seen! Hi!" He gently stroked their cheeks. "I'm Brad. How are you two cuties doing? Do you like to swing? You sure look like you do."

Hope was beaming, and Aiden was fuming. He wasn't angry. He was just… He didn't want Brad to be the nanny. He didn't like the way Hope was looking at him, and frankly, he didn't like the way that Brad had looked at her.

Five minutes later when they were seeing Brad out, Hope promised to call him either way the next day.

"Well, he's a no!" Aiden said as soon as the door was shut.

Hope scrunched her eyebrows at him. "What do you mean? He was highly qualified and clearly adores the twins. We're going with him."

Aiden shook his head. "I don't trust him. There is just something about him I don't like. He was a little too charming to be legit. I've seen guys like that a lot in my career. They are nice at first, and then they show their true colors."

Hope rolled her eyes. "Oh, please! You're being ridiculous! He was a perfectly nice man and he has no ill intentions."

"But how can you be sure?" Aiden asked. "Jessica was much better suited."

Hope crossed her arms over her chest and raised an eyebrow. "Jessica didn't have the associate's degree or the child development major that Brad has under his belt."

Aiden crossed his arms over his chest as well. "So what? A degree isn't needed to be a nanny."

"It makes no sense to hire someone who is less qualified." Hope suddenly understood. She raised an eyebrow again. "It's because he's a man, isn't it?"

Aiden laughed. "What? Don't be silly! It has nothing to do with that! I told you, I just don't trust the guy."

Hope walked closer to him. "You have no reason not to trust him. Admit it; you're just jealous of him. You don't like that he is young and good looking."

Aiden looked away. "I don't have to admit anything." He then looked at her. "You don't like Jessica because you're jealous of _her_. She's twenty years younger than me, and she's not even half as beautiful as you. There's no reason to be jealous."

"Well Brad's good looks don't even come close to your good looks. Plus…" Hope walked closer to him and gently stroked his cheek with the back of her hand. "He doesn't have your sexy dimples that I love." She grinned, and Aiden grinned too; revealing said dimples.

They laughed, and rested their foreheads against each other's.

"I'm not going to agree to Brad, and you're not going to agree to Jessica," Aiden stated.

Hope shook her head. "Nope!" she agreed. She raised an eyebrow. "That's one thing we can agree on."

Aiden kissed her hand. "I guess we'll have to look at another agency. But that's for another day. Right now, all I want to do is take you upstairs and assure you that you're the only woman for me."

Hope raised an eyebrow. "And how are you going to do that, Mr. Jennings?" she asked in a breathy voice. "Hm?"

His eyes lowered with love and desire for her. "I guess you're just going to have to wait and find out," he told her.

She giggled as he picked her up and started carrying her toward the stairs to head up to the bedroom. "I love you, Mr. Jennings," she purred, her nose against his cheek.

He looked at her, his eyes lowered with love for her, and smiled. "And I love you, Baby." He kissed her lovingly on the lips, and then carried her the rest of the way up the stairs and to the bedroom to show her exactly how much he loved her.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

Chase's eyes were big as he entered the strip club. There was a long bar, and several round tables filled with hungry looking men. Though, Chase was positive it wasn't food they were hungry for. Looking to the stage he saw a giant swing hanging from above with a beautiful curly haired, busty brunette with sparkling green eyes wearing a bra and G-string set made to look like leaves. She swung on the swing. She was bent way back with her legs spread wide, not leaving much to the imagination.

Guys were hollering and hooting, and some were standing in front of the stage with bills in their hands, hardly able to stand the anticipation of her coming over to them so that they could shove the bills into her panties.

She came down off the swing to appease them, and they hooted and hollered as they stuffed their hard earned bills into her G-string.

She then walked away from them and tuned with her back facing them. Her bra came off then, and they hooted and hollered like a bunch of savage animals.

She climbed back up onto the swing and swung, this time standing up.

Chase looked away, embarrassed as her ample chest went up and down with the swing. He liked girls as much as the next guy, but hooting and hollering over a naked woman just seemed gross to him.

"Max, this is a friend of mine, Chase Jennings. He's a really good dancer. Do you think Tracey would hire him?" Bridgette asked a burley-looking baldheaded man in dark blue boot-cut jeans and a black-t-shirt. His arms were well muscled. Chase knew he was a guy you wouldn't want to mess with.

Max nodded. "He's a good looking guy. You are of age, right?" he asked Chase, and eyebrow rose in suspicion.

Chase nodded. "I'm twenty-three."

Max nodded, and turned his attention back to Bridgette. "Sure. Tracey will have to see what he's got, but it shouldn't be a problem. In fact, she was just complaing the other day that she is short on men now that Jackson and Gary both quit."

Bridgette smiled. "Awesome! I'll bring him by tomorrow."

"I never said I'd be willing to dance," Chase said to her.

"Semantics, Semantics," she said. "I gotta go get ready. I'm up soon!" She blew him a kiss. "Sit down. Have a drink and enjoy the show." She pulled out a chair for him at a nearby table, and then, after winking and smiling at him, she disappeared back stage.

Chase ordered a drink from a waitress, who was clothed, but barely. She was wearing the highest heels he had ever seen and a tight little red dress that looked more like a shirt than a dress.

He then sat back and watched the show.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

He had blushed all through the next performance. While the waitress had had the highest heels he had ever seen, the next dancer had the largest _chest_ he had ever seen. As she danced in a tiny little thong topless, she rubbed her bare breast against the pole with the pole between her bare breasts. He may have been straight and of age, but this made him extremely uncomfortable to watch.

By the time Bridgette came on, he was ready to leave. He promised himself he'd leave right after her performance. He would have left before, but he didn't want to hurt her feelings.

She came on and some black areal silks came down from the ceiling. She was wearing a very short pair of satin red shorts and she had on a matching satin red bra with a black lace overlay.

The music started off slow and sensual, and she slinked her way onto the stage, sashaying seductively over to the silks. She then mounted them, and wrapped her leg around one. She did a beautiful areal show which the men seemed to love. She had let her pigtails out, and her hair hung down below her like strands of gold as she spun around upside down on the silks. She then lowered to the ground, and once she was back on the stage, she crawled over to the men, her eyes filled with a come-hither stare.

The guys shoved the money in her braw straps and shorts.

Suddenly, the music started getting faster, and she got up and unlatched her bra. She swung it around her finger like a lasso as the men screamed and hooted even louder than they had for the last two girls.

Chase felt his cheeks flushing a bright shade of crimson. She tossed the bra aside, and then ran her hands over her breasts before slowly slipping off her shorts of to reveal a silk red thing underneath. She then got back on the areal silks and performed topless. Though, as she spun around upside down supported only by her legs wrapped around silks on each side of her, her breast moving around with her, he wasn't staring at her for the same reason the other guys were. He was staring at her face, thinking how beautiful she looked. She even had glitter all over her hair, which he had only just noticed now. She looked like a sparkling, magical enchantrace.

By the time she finished with her act, he was standing up and cheering for her.

She came back from back stage fifteen minutes later, now back in her Silky Satin clothes, only this time she had a black silk robe overtop, tied tightly at the waist. "Did you like it?" she asked.

Chase nodded. "I did! You were so beautiful up there!"

She blushed. "Aw, thanks, Chase!" She kissed his cheek.

"I should be going now. I'm tired, and I have to work tomorrow," he said to her.

She pouted. "Can't you just stay for the last show? It's up in five minutes. I'm in it with a bunch of other girls.

He sighed. She was too beautiful to say no to. Besides, what was five more minutes?" All l right, sure," he agreed.

"Yay! I'll see you in a few." She sat him back down in his chair, and then disappeared back stage again.

Ten minutes later (not five), music sounded. It reminded Chase of music they would play in a Disney movie when something magical was happening.

Then, suddenly, the curtain opened revealing what looked like a forest. Beautiful fairy lights were lit all around the trees. Then, one by one the girls all came out, each one more beautiful or at the very least just as beautiful, as the last. They were all wearing lacy fairy dresses in different colors, and they began to dance to "fairy music" around a fake bonfire in the middle of the stage as they MC introduced them one by one.

Each girl flashed her boobs as they were introduced, and some even bent down with their backs faced toward the men, giving them a very good view of their rumps.

The guys hooted and hollered, but this time they weren't given the opportunity to deposit money onto the girls.

The girls left the stage after blowing the men kisses. Then, the MC wished them all a good night, thanked them for coming, and reminded everyone not to drink and drive.

When Bridgette came back out to Chase, she handed him a bar napkin with her name and number written in pink pen on it and a red lipstick kiss below her name and number. "Call me tomorrow, okay?"

Chase looked at her name and number. Even her hand writing was cute. She had dotted the Is in Bridgette with a heart. He stuffed the napkin in his pants pocket. "Sure. I loved the ending. You're the best of all of them."

Bridgette blushed. "I know you're just saying that. You didn't even see most of the other girls dance their solo dances." She kissed his cheek again. "But thank you. I'll talk to you tomorrow."

Chase nodded. "Talk to you tomorrow."

As he started to leave, Bridgette called out to him. "Oh, and Chase?"

Chase stopped, and looked back at her. "Hm?"

She grinned. "Welcome to Neverland."

He looked confused, and then she pointed up to the neon green sign above his head.

He looked up and saw that "Neverland" was the name of the club.

He laughed, and grinned at her. "Thanks. Have a good night."

"You too," she said with a knee-weakening smile.

He smiled too, then headed out the doors, tired, but having a feeling that despite the fact that he was tired, he was going to be up most the night thinking about her.


	67. S3E17

_**This Love…**_

 _ **Season 3 Episode 17: Walk Away**_

Over the next week, Chase had quickly become great friends with Bridgette. She was fun, and he really enjoyed her company. He hadn't had a real friend in what seemed like forever, so this felt particularly nice. They had dinner together a couple nights, and they even went bowling together on her day off. He had also seen a full show at Neverland on her work night. He had come to learn that Max, whom he had met when he had first visited Neverland, was the male co-owner of the strip club, and the boss for the ladies nights. He made sure the ladies that worked for him were safe. Bridgette had explained that he was very much like a father to them all. Well, maybe not quite like a father, given their profession, but he looked out for them and was good to them.

Tracey was the female co-owner and the boss for the men's nights. She made sure her men were not overworked, and that they were not touched by the women. The women could actually become more savage than the men were! Of course, there were big burly security guards that worked every night as well. Not that Tracy couldn't handle herself. She was a black belt in karate and had taken several self-defense classes. She was a beautiful woman with a perfect, slim figure and legs for days. But anyone who crossed her would find themselves wishing they hadn't.

She had been very impressed with Chase, and wanted him to start training to be a dancer. But he wasn't quite ready for that. He just couldn't get past the feeling of being treated like a piece of meat. He didn't know how any of the other dancers did it day in and day out—men or women. Bridgette swore one got used to it after a while, and that the money made it all worth it, but he just wasn't sure. So, he stuck with the job at the church.

As Thanksgiving approached, Chase cleaned the church one last day before he would have a couple days off. He had off Thursday and Friday. One of the kids in the church nursery had decided to draw a wall mural all over the wall in crayon, which was in reality, just a bunch of scribbles. So now Chase had the not so fun task of scraping off the wax from the wall.

"Boo!"

Chase jumped so badly he nearly spilled the bucket of soapy water he had beside him.

Bridgette laughed. "Gotcha!" She walked over to him looking cute in a punk satin dress and lace-up ballet shoes. She looked like a little blonde doll to him. She still wore pigtails, but now they were both heavily streaked with pink.

He smiled at her. "You came to see me?"

She smirked. "No, I came to see Santa Clause, but I guess I'm too early."

Chase laughed. "Shut up!"

"You know, mayonnaise gets crayon right off of walls," she informed him.

Chase snorted. "Yeah, right!"

Bridgette shrugged. "I'm serious! You let it set for a few minutes then wash it off, and the crayons come right off. It's a little trick I learned from my mother when I was a kid."

"Really?" Chase asked.

Bridgette crossed a perfectly manicured bubble gum pink fingernail over her heart. "Really."

"I suppose it wouldn't hurt to try." Chase then got up and headed to the church's kitchen. He opened the fridge and found a jar of mayo. "Perfect!" He then brought it back to the room, and Bridgette helped him cover the entire mural with it.

"I hope this works," Chase said as they waited for it to set.

"It will," Bridgette assured him. "Trust me."

"So, what are you doing for Thanksgiving?" Chase suddenly asked her.

Bridgette shrugged. "I don't know. The club is closed that day, and my family was never really big on Thanksgiving. Well, we used to be, but after my father died, my mother never seemed to want to bother anymore. Then she remarried, and the guy is a real jerk. I don't want to get into it, but needless to say, he isn't exactly the Thanksgiving celebrating type either. You?"

Chase shrugged. "I would like to spend it with my dad and siblings, but I don't know if I can. Probably not. My stepmother kind of hates me. Well, soon-to-be step-mother. She isn't engaged to my dad yet, but she will be. They used to be married, but… it's a really long story how they broke up and ended up back together. It's a story for another day."

"Why does she hate you?" Bridgette asked.

"I don't want to get into it," Chase said, taking her line from moments before.

Bridgette nodded. "Noted. Well, maybe you and I can do something together. We could have what they call nowadays a "Friends-giving". She grinned. "I actually love to cook, so I could cook for you at my apartment."

Chase smiled. "I'd love that! I'm sure Carol and Casey are doing their own thing anyway."

"Who are Carol and Casey?" she asked, an eyebrow raised.

"My aunt and her boyfriend," Chase explained.

"Oh. The aunt you live with?" Bridgette asked.

Chase nodded. "That would be her!" They had just recently moved into their new condo together, and he loved it so far. He hadn't had brought Bridgette there yet. He didn't want any questions from Carol.

"So, Thanksgiving at my place then?" she asked.

Chase grinned at her. "Sounds great!"

She clapped her hands together happily. "Yay! I'll go shopping tonight. But now, let's get this mayo off!"

They then got to work at scrubbing the walls.

"It worked!" Chase said, amazed.

Bridgette grinned at him. "I told you it would, Silly!"

Chase grinned too, suddenly looking very much forward to Thanksgiving.

 _ **~*came back to me*~**_

"I was thinking that maybe we could do our Thanksgiving at dinnertime and I could do a Thanksgiving with Chase at lunchtime," Aiden told Hope as they cuddled in bed together on a lazy day off. Thanksgiving week was surprisingly a slow time, and Aiden had let his associates handle the office for the day. He wanted to spend time with his love and his sweet little babies.

"I'm sorry. I know you want us all to spend Thanksgiving together as a family, but I just don't want Ciara to feel uncomfortable," Hope apologized. "Maybe next year. She does seem to be opening up to forgiving him lately."

"It's okay. He has to learn there are consequences for his actions. But I can't shun him on Thanksgiving all together," he said gently.

Hope shook her head. "I would never expect you to."

Aiden smiled then.

"What?" Hope asked, unable to stop herself from smiling as well. His smiles were contagious.

He laced his fingers through hers and kissed her hand. "Remember what happened last Thanksgiving?" He grinned mischievously.

Hope thought back to the previous year. Then, she smiled again. "We made love for the first time since you came back."

"And we conceived the twins," Aiden reminded her as he gently stroked her cheek.

Hope blushed, and then she took his hand and kissed it. "How could I forget?"

"I thought my heart was going to be eternally ripped out of my chest when you later told me you were going back to Rafe," Aiden confessed. "But you came back to me."

Hope's eyes filled with touched tears. "I came back to what I needed. My heart was yours since the day I met you, Aiden. I just didn't always know it."

"And mine was always yours since I day I met you. That, I always knew," he said quietly, his eyes filled with love for her.

"Oh, Aiden," she said in practically a whisper, the tears still in her eyes. She took his face between her hands and kissed him softly on the lips. Then, he gently lay her down beneath him, and made love to her, showing her just how much he loved her. He always had, and he and always would, just as she would always love him.

 _ **~*came back to me*~**_

Chase had been thrilled that his dad still wanted to have Thanksgiving dinner with him, and Carol had informed Chase that she had been counting on them celebrating their first Thanksgiving together in their new condo. She was planning on cooking and everything! So, Chase had agreed to attend the "Jennings Thanksgiving", as Carol had called it at their place at noon on Thanksgiving. He would have his dinner with Bridgette at six, giving his food plenty of time to settle before round two at dinner. The twins were even going to come.

Aiden would have the big Thanksgiving dinner with Hope and her family, the Hortons, and the Bradys at the Brady Pub, and Carol and Casey were going to just relax at Casey's place with Jake and have leftovers from lunch, which she was sure there would be. After all, she had bought a thirty pound turkey! Casey had teased her about it, but she had just wanted to make sure she was prepared.

So, here they were, at his and Carol's condo, having their Jennings Thanksgiving lunch.

"I can't get over how cute those two are in their Thanksgiving outfits," Carol said as she pointed her fork at Haiden and Maddie who were both wearing brown long-sleeved onsies, each one with a turkey face on them that had written above it, _My First Thanksgiving_. They had tiny little pants with turkeys all over them, and hats that had the same pattern as their pants. On their feet were little knitted booties knitted in the shape of turkeys.

Aiden grinned. "Hope was thrilled when I brought them home as a surprise. One of my clients makes children's clothes to sell and made those for the twins as a thank you for me helping her win her case."

"Aw, that was nice!" Carol said with a smile.

"My little Butterball turkeys," Chase said adoringly to the twins as he kissed their cheeks.

Haiden smiled big, which melted Chase's heart. Maddie just gurgled, but the fact that she didn't fuss was good enough for Chase.

"So, Chase, are you going to tell us about your new girlfriend?" Carol teased as she reached for more cranberry sauce.

Aiden looked at Chase with a sudden interest. "You have a girlfriend? Since when?"

Chase rolled his eyes. This was precisely why he never brought her by. He didn't want anyone to tease him about it. "She's not my girlfriend. She and I are new friends, and we're just getting to know each other."

"But you're already having Thanksgiving dinner together," Carol pressed.

Aiden paused from his turkey eating. "You are? Who is she? What does she do for a living? Where did you meet her?"

Chase sighed. "I am, but just as a friend. Her parents aren't big on celebrating holidays, but she loves to cook, so we agreed to spend it together." He looked at Aiden. "I knew Hope wouldn't want me around, so I planned to have Thanksgiving dinner with her…Bridgette. I met her at The Square. She asked to sit at my table since we were both by ourselves and no other table was available."

"She's quite forward," Carol chimed in to Aiden between bitefulls of mashed potatoes.

"Is she nice?" Aiden asked. "You didn't answer about what she does for a living."

"I wouldn't be hanging out with her if she weren't. She's a choreographer. She choreographs dances for recitals and theater shows—stuff like that." It wasn't a _total_ lie. He was pretty sure she came up with most of her own moves. Besides, he really didn't want to say at the Thanksgiving table, _"She's a stripper! She's got a really smoking hot body too. You should see it!"_ Something told him it just would not go over well.

"Well that's interesting. Do you think it could turn into anything more than just friends?" Aiden asked, being the involved father that he was.

Chase shrugged. "I don't know. She's pretty and cool. We get a long well. We're just taking it one day at a time."

"Well, good for you, Son! I'm glad to see you finally making new friends," Aiden said to him.

Chase nodded. "Me too." He then took a drink, wondering if his father would still feel that way if he knew what Bridgette's actual occupation was.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

"I'm thankful that I have all my children with me for Thanksgiving. Well, minus my three beautiful angels in Heaven, but I know they are here with me in spirit and with God." Hope smiled upward. She then smiled at Aiden, and gently squeezed his hand. "I'm also thankful for my love coming back to me." She kissed his hand. "And giving me my two beautiful babies. He brought me the happiness I never thought I'd have again." They were at the Thanksgiving table, taking turns saying what they were Thankful for.

"And I'm thankful to God for many things. For bringing my son back to me. For giving me the two most perfect little angels on earth…" He squeezed Hope's hand. "And for third chances." He smiled. "I'd be nothing without the love of my life by my side."

Hope had tears of happiness in her eyes. She pulled him closed and kissed him with all the love she had in her heart for him. She then rested her forehead against his. "Ditto."

They smiled at each other, and everyone else awed.

"What a perfect way to finish off our thanks," Julie said with a smile. "Now, let's thank the One who gave us all our blessings! Doug, would you do the honors?"

"Of course!" Doug agreed.

They then all bowed heads as Doug said grace, and when the prayer was over, he looked up and said loudly, "Now let's eat!"

No one had to be told twice as they all began to dig in and pass dishes around.

Hope and Aiden had fed the twins upon arriving at the pub just as Aiden and Chase had fed them right before they had all sat down at the table to eat lunch earlier in the day.

"It's a shame Skylar couldn't make it," Hope said to Ciara as they ate.

Ciara blushed, and looked over at her. She gently pushed some hair behind her ear. "Actually, Skylar and I are no longer together."

Hope was surprised to say the least, though she couldn't say she was all that upset about it. "I'm sorry, Baby. When did this happen?"

"Right before I left. Well, we made it official right before I left anyway. Lately, we've just grown apart. We both still want to be friends, but we've come to realize that we want different things in life. She would love to one day start a vet clinic in LA. I kind of want to come back home after school. I would love to have kids one day, she'd be happy with no kids. It's things like that. But we're both still roommates for now until one of us finds our own place. It's cool though. Like I said, there is no animosity between us," Ciara explained.

"Hm… That's too bad." Hope took a bite of her turkey.

Ciara shot her a look. "Come on, Mom. You know you're cheering inside." She grinned.

Hope looked at her. "I didn't say anything!"

"I know you, Mom. You never liked us together to begin with. It's okay, it's cool. I get it. It doesn't even matter anymore anyway," Ciara said.

Hope looked at her. "I just want you to be happy. That's all I could ever want from my children other than spirituality, good health, and morals, all of which you have."

Ciara smiled. "Don't worry. I'm happy." She side-hugged her mother. "I'll find the right one in time. It just wasn't Skylar. I'm still young, unlike you."

Hope gasped. "Ciara Alice Brady! I've only lived a little more than half my life, Lord willing. I am not old, I'll have you know."

Ciara laughed. "I know. I'm just teasing you."

"You're lucky I love you!" Hope said with a smile at her.

"I know I am," Ciara said.

Hope hugged her, and then went to grab more stuffing.

 _ **~*came back to me*~**_

"So, how did lunch with your family go today?" Bridgette asked as they ate.

"It was good. I was happy to see my siblings again. My baby nephew smiled at me, and my niece, for a change, didn't cry around me. She usually cries a lot, so that says something," Chase replied. "By the way, everything is so good. I should have you cook _all_ my meals!"

"Not until you put a ring on it!" Bridgette teased, wriggling her bare left ring finger at him.

Chase blushed.

She grinned. "But seriously, thank you. I'd be happy to cook for you any time."

Chase smiled at her.

"Did your family ask about me? Or didn't you tell them where you'd be tonight?" Bridgette asked as she ate some green bean casserole.

"I did. They are very interested in you. Maybe you can meet them some time. My dad is nosy, but he's a good guy. My aunt is crazy, but in a good way. She's the coolest aunt you'll ever meet! As for my baby siblings, they are the cutest little butterballs. Look!" He took out his phone and brought up the picture he had taken of them in their turkey outfits. He then showed Bridgette from across the table.

She grinned big and put a hand over her heart. "Bless my heart they are so darling! Those little turkey booties! Oh my gosh, too cute!"

"Thanks!" Chase said with a grin as he put his phone away. He blushed. "Not that I'm responsible for making either the twins or the booties."

Bridgette laughed. "Well, thank you for taking the picture so I could see them." She winked.

They talked a bit more, and then she brought up dancing again. "Tracy said all you would have to do is come up with a stripper name, and find out what your theme is. You know like mine is wearing only silk and satin. What would yours be? I can help you figure it out. Then she would want you to take pole dancing lessons and maybe some dance lessons. She's pretty confident she can get you up on stage by Christmas. You even get your lessons paid for, and you get paid for taking them since it will be considered training. She would pay you a hundred dollars per class, and then three hundred dollars per show! She usually puts us on no more than twice a week since we share the club, but still, with tips especially, it's good money."

Chase's mouth dropped open. "Really? That much money?"

Bridgette grinned and nodded. "It sure got me through some tough times once I left home." She motioned around her apartment. "It got me this place."

"I still don't know about stripping naked," Chase said.

"You wouldn't have to be completely naked. "You'd have a pouch," Bridgette replied.

Chase nearly choked on his turkey. "A pouch?"

Bridgette nodded. "A G-string for men. We're not a fully nude club. Almost, but not fully."

"I don't know if I have what it takes to be a stripper. I'm not that good looking," Chase reasoned.

Bridgette took his hand from across the table. "Oh, please! You are hot! Are you kidding me? Even Tracey said she could make a lot of money off of you."

Chase raised an eyebrow. "She did?"

Bridgette nodded. "She did!"

"Do _you_ think I'm hot?" Chase asked.

Bridgette got out of her seat, walked over to Chase, and surprised him by sitting in his lap. She kissed his cheek and draped her arms over his shoulders as she looked him in the eyes. "You are _very_ hot. Come on. How cool would it be to wok at the same place? I can cheer you on, and you can cheer me on. Plus, I promise you, you'd never have to clean any poop, pea, vaginal blood, or anything else gross like that! We have a janitor for that." She grinned.

Chase laughed. "I highly doubt there would be any of _that_ on stage!"

Bridgette looked away. "You'd be surprised."

"Wait—What?" Chase asked.

Bridgette grinned, and kissed his cheek. "Let's finish eating so that we can get onto the pumpkin pie!" She got off his lap and sat back down in her seat. "So, will you do it?"

The way she was smiling at him brought such joy to his heart. Plus, he really could use the money for both his rent and for Christmas presents for his family… The church hardly paid a thing.

"Trust me, Chase. I know it can be intimidating at first, but once you perform, and once people are cheering for you, it's such a rush! You quickly get addicted! Besides, I'd feel so much better knowing you were there too. And of course I'll always be there for you. I won't miss a show of yours!" Bridgette promised.

Chase could no longer resist her. Plus, he really did like the idea of no longer having to clean disgusting and annoying things like the church like bathrooms and crayon-covered walls. "All right. I'll do it. Why not?"

Bridgette squealed in delight, then got out of her chair, grabbed him, and kissed him hard on the cheek. "You won't regret it! Tracy will be so thrilled! We'll get those classes set up for you ASAP!"

And as Chase looked into her stunning aquamarine eyes, he had no doubt he was making the right decision.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

"This is definitely the best Thanksgiving ever," Carol said as she and Casey watched a Thanksgiving movie on TV while sitting in their bed and feeding each other Thanksgiving leftovers for dinner. She smiled as she watched Casey feed Jake a piece of Turkey. Jake was sitting at the end of Casey's bed.

"I couldn't agree more," Casey said to her. He nuzzled noses with Carol, and then kissed her.

Jake barked.

"Okay, here's one for you too," Casey said, nuzzling his dog's nose, and then kissing him. The dog licked Casey's lips.

"Ew! I'm not kissing you until you wash your mouth!" Carol said to Casey.

Casey grinned wickedly at her. "Wanna bet?"

"No!" Carol said with a laugh as she tried to inch away. However, she wasn't fast enough, and there was really no where to run. Casey was able to grab her and give her a passionate kiss on the lips.

"Yuck! Now _I_ need some mouth wash!" she said, wiping her mouth with her sleeve. "But first, pie." She then dug into her slice of pumpkin pie.

Casey laughed. She was nuts, but that worked out perfectly because he was absolutely nuts about her. He kissed her cheek then gave Jake a bite of pie using the same fork that he right afterward used to fork a spoonful of pie into his own mouth.

"Ewww!" Carol cried out again.

Casey laughed. "Dogs have cleaner mouths than humans you know."

"Nuh uh! Humans don't like their own privates!" Carol said.

"No, but some lick each other's," Casey quipped in a joke that was unusually raunchy for him.

"You're disgusting!" Carol said, gently pushing him. And then, as she continued to eat her pie and watch the movie, she couldn't help but think that maybe one day Casey could be husband number five. And this time, she would make it her last.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

Aiden and Hope were getting ready to leave. The babies were ready for bed, and she and Aiden were both stuffed from dinner and dessert.

"I can't believe you had four pieces of pie!" Hope said as Aiden helped her with her coat.

"What can I say? There was pumpkin, apple, pecan, and cherry. I had to try all four," Aiden reasoned. He kissed her cheek. "Don't worry." He murmured in her ear," I'm sure you can help me work it all off after the twins are in bed." Ciara was staying at Claire's place.

Hope smiled. "Maybe. But only if I get a back massage first."

"Done!" Aiden said.

Just then, Lucas came over to them. "You guys heading out?"

"Yeah, we're pooped, and the twins need their cutie sleep." Aiden grinned. "See what I did there?"

Lucas laughed. "You're a dork. Look, I have a proposition for you. I couldn't help but overhear you two talking over dinner about not being able to find a nanny that you can both agree on. I may not come from a nanny service or anything, but I do have experience in raising children. I was wondering if you'd consider taking me on as their nanny? I've taken care of Johnny and Ally, so it's not like I'm going into this blindly or anything."

"But what about your job at Countess Wilhelmina?" Hope asked, confused.

"I can do most if not all of my work from my laptop. And anything I need to go to the office for, I can do in the evenings. True, I may have some business meetings during the day that I need to be present for, but I will personally find someone to watch the twins if there is an emergency. There is my sister, or even Will. It will be someone you know and trust. But rarely do I have any meetings during the day. My mother can also take care of the majority of the meetings if need be," Lucas explained.

"Why would you want to be a nanny when you have a great job already?" Hope asked him.

"Because frankly, I miss being a dad. I hardly ever get to see Ally anymore, and Will is all grown up. I miss having kids in my life. Yes, there's Ari, but I share my time with her with Sonny, Will, and Gabi, so again, I don't get to see her much. You don't even have to pay me. I'd just be happy to be around babies again."

"No, we're going to pay you. But are you sure this is what you want?" Aiden asked him.

Lucas nodded. "I'm positive! I feel there is something missing in my life. I need this. It will also help distract me. Adrienne went back to Justin, and I'm lonely. I need the joy of children back in my life."

"Well, I'm a hundred percent okay with it if it's what you really want," Aiden replied.

Lucas nodded. "It's what I really want. I can start as soon as you need me."

"Well, I'm okay with it. You're my cousin, so of course I trust you. I know you have experience. Of course you can be their nanny! Thank you, Lucas," Hope said, hugging him the best she could with Haiden in his carrier in her right hand.

Lucas hugged her back. "Thank you guys. Just let me know when you need me, and I'll be there."

"I'm going to talk to Roman about me working again, and then I'll let you know." Hope kissed his cheek. "Happy Thanksgiving."

"Happy Thanksgiving," Lucas said.

He hugged Aiden and they bid each other Happy Thanksgiving and goodbye, then Lucas headed back to talk to Jen.

"Well, problem solved. No one has to be jealous of anybody!" Aiden said happily as they headed out to the car. "As long as you're not the type that's into their cousin," he teased.

"Don't be disgusting!" Hope said with a laugh.

When they got home, they got the twins changed and into bed, and then they went back to their bedroom and made love, both so thankful for each other.

As Hope lie in his arms after, Aiden gently stroking her hair, he couldn't help but grin. "By next Thanksgiving we'll be married."

Hope smiled up at him. "But first you've got to propose."

"Soon, my love. Soon. All in good time." Aiden lovingly kissed her, and then continued to hold her in his arms as they both drifted off into a peaceful and dreamless sleep.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

Chase was walking through the park on the way home. He had decided to walk since Bridgette's apartment was only a fifteen minute walk from his condo. There was no use wasting gas, he figured. Gas was expensive. He was surprised when he bumped into Ciara. They were both on their phones and hadn't seen each other.

"I'm so sorry! I should have been looking," Ciara said. She then noticed it was Chase. "Oh. It's you."

"I'm the one who's sorry. I should have been looking myself," he said.

"We were both at fault." Ciara looked awkward.

"I'm sorry I made you gay." Chase didn't mean for it to come out. It just had. It had been on his mind ever since he had found out she now liked women.

Ciara smirked. "You think you're what made me gay?"

Chase looked away. "I raped you. It's enough to turn any woman off from men."

Ciara was too amused to be angry. "Chase, it doesn't work like that. I fell for Skylar because I had feelings for her. I would have fallen for her with or without being raped."

Chase looked at her, tears in his eyes. "I'm still sorry you know. For raping you. I don't ever deserve your forgiveness. I'll always hope for it, but I know you don't owe me a damn thing."

Ciara nodded. "You're right. I don't." He eyes were cold.

Chase looked down at the ground.

"But I do forgive you, Chase. I can see you're truly sorry, and that you're not that person anymore. I will never be able to forget what you did. You not only raped me, but you took away my first time. Now whenever I think of it, it's going to be tarnished by rape."

Chase met her gaze. "I'll never forgive myself for doing that to you."

Ciara shook her head. "Well, you should. You should also never forget it. Never forget the terrible thing you did. Never forget how awful it made you feel. Then hopefully, it will stop you from ever doing it again."

Chase nodded. "I know it will."

"I forgive you. And you could have joined us today. I know whether I like it or not, you're going to be family soon. Next year you can join us, and this year for Christmas you can. I won't throw a fit," Ciara said to him.

"I don't want to make you feel uncomfortable," Chase said to her.

Again, she shook her head. "You won't. I'm moving on, and you should too. Sometimes you just have to walk away from the past and look to the future. Otherwise the past will haunt you forever and you'll never get anywhere in life without fear and guilt."

"Thank you, Ciara. It's more than I deserve." Chase had tears in his eyes. "Do you think that if we take baby steps we could, as you said, 'walk away' from our past and start new? If not I totally get it, but I just thought I'd ask."

Ciara thought about it for a moment. "I suppose we can try for our parents' sake if nothing else." She then gave him the shock of a lifetime by hugging him. "Happy Thanksgiving, Chase."

He hugged her back gratefully. "Happy Thanksgiving, Ciara."

Ciara then broke free from him. "Baby steps," she said with a smirk. "This is the first step I guess."

Chase nodded. "Baby steps."

As he watched Ciara walk away, he couldn't help but smile. He had a new job coming up, a new friend who could possibly turn into a new girlfriend, and best of all, Ciara had finally forgiven him after all this time. He headed back to his condo, smiling even wider. Not to mention he had two adorable baby siblings. It looked like this Thanksgiving; he actually had something to be thankful for!


	68. S3E18

_**This Love…**_

 _ **Season 3 Episode 18: Maybe**_

"Hello, my Love!" Hope said to Aiden as she dropped by his work for a quick visit. She had the twins in their double stroller. She kissed his cheek.

Aiden smiled brightly at her, then pulled her down into his lap and kissed her softly on the lips. "Much better." He smiled at her as he rested his forehead against hers. "So what brings you in today?"

"I missed you for starters," Hope began.

"And _I_ missed _you_ ," Aiden kissed her again and gently stroked her hair.

"I also wanted to tell you that Roman has reinstated me. Not that I was never uninstated, but you know what I mean. I'm back to work on Monday!"

Aiden pouted. "So soon? It's less than a week away!"

"I know you worry about me, but I need this, Aiden. I need to be back on the force fighting the bad guys. It's in my blood. It's what I love doing. I love the twins, but I also love working. I can't be home all day long with only the twins to talk to. And even then all I get in return in a gurgle or a fuss." She smirked. Then, more seriously, she gently stroked his cheek. "I'll be partnered with Shawn again. You know he has my back."

Aiden nodded. "I know. I also know you're good at what you do. I just get nervous having you constantly put yourself in danger."

"I've been at this for years, Mr. Jennings." Hope gently brought his face toward hers so that he was forced to look her in the eyes. "Trust me. I know what I'm doing."

He lovingly kissed her on the lips yet again. "Well, since it makes you happy, then it makes _me_ happy." He stroked her hair. "Just be careful, all right? I'm not the only one who needs you."

Hope nodded, and stroked his cheek. "I will be. I promise!" She kissed his lips. "Which brings me to another reason why I'm here."

Aiden sighed. "Is this also something I'm going to worry about?"

Hope looked away. "Possibly. Kayla invited us to have dinner at her place with her and Steve."

"Does Steve know?" Aiden asked.

Hope looked at him. "She said she'll make sure he behaves."

Aiden sighed again. "I think this is going to be a disaster, but out of respect to Kayla, I will honor her request and say yes. Plus, as I just said, if it makes you happy, it makes me happy."

Hope took his face between her hands and kissed him more passionately this time. "Thank you."

"You're welcome!" Aiden said with a smile. "Your kisses make it all worth it."

Hope grinned and kissed him again.

Suddenly, Madeleine started to cry.

They both broke the kiss and looked at the babies.

"I'm sorry, Maddie! Daddy didn't mean to ignore you." He looked at Haiden. "Or you."

Hope smiling, got off of Aiden's lap, and then Aiden stood up to go greet the two newest loves of his life.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

Chase had quit working for Father Lewis. Father Lewis was nice about it, and understood that Chase had a job that paid more money. When Father Lewis had asked him what job it was, he had stretched the truth just a little. He said he worked as a server at a club. He didn't say what kind of club and Father Lewis thankfully, hadn't asked. Chase hated lying—especially to a priest.

Now, Chase was taking exotic dancing lessons which included some pole dancing lessons. He had never thought in his life that he would be taking those, but here he was, learning to balance his body on a pole and swing around it. And here he was, learning how to thrust his pelvis in a way that according to his instructor Amanda would make all the ladies want him to come hither. It was all so surreal to him, but he had to admit, it was also kind of fun, though at times, embarrassing.

Bridgette would even come along from time to time to help him. However, today she was at the club, practicing for her show that night. Chase's classes were in a separate dance building that was specifically for exotic dance lessons. He was to pick Bridgette up after his class, and then they would go to dinner together before her show that night.

"Excellent, excellent!" Amanda said to him as he swung around the pole upside down. "It takes most of our dancers at least a month to learn that move! You were born for this, Love!" She clapped her hands. "Bravo!"

Chase grinned as he easily dismounted from the poll.

"But you can swing with way more ease if you wear the Speedo you're supposed to wear. Didn't you like the one I got you?"

Chase blushed. "It's awfully tiny. Plus it's bedazzled." She had given him a bright purple Speedo with the word "hungry" spelled out in silver rhinestones over the backside. It was so tight it left little to the imagination of what was beneath it.

Amanda grinned. "Trust me. The tighter it is, the more the ladies love it. It's purple—the color of passion. And as for the jewels, the ladies going to want to eat you up after reading what they spell out. And the hungrier the ladies, the more willing they are to dish out those George Washingtons. Heck, if you're really good, it could be as much as a Ben Franklin. Some of our clientele are rich and very eager to spend their cash if you know what I mean."

Chase's eyes got wide. "Hundred dollar bills? Really?"

Amanda grinned and nodded. "Really! But they aren't as likely to dish out the big bucks if you're covered up with last season's jeans." She nodded toward his jeans.

Chase sighed. "I'll be right back." He headed to the changing room.

Amanda grinned. "Excellent!"

"A moment after, Chase returned from the changing room wearing nothing but his purple Speedo and a crimson flush.

Amanda licked her lips. "Now that's what I'm talking about! You look hot!" She nodded toward the pole. "Now try it with the Speedo on and see how much easier it is."

Chase, still flushing, tugged at his Speedo, making sure nothing was showing that shouldn't. He then got on the pole and did the move he was taught. As he performed it, he couldn't help but notice that Amanda was right. He was able to maneuver around the pole much easier without the jeans.

When he dismounted, she whistled and hooted. "Chase," Amanda told him, "I know we've still got a ways to go, but I can tell you right now, you're going to probably make more on tips than any other dancer of Tracey's. Believe me—I've seen and trained them all."

Chase blushed, but he was grinning from ear to ear. He could already see the money rolling in, and just in time for Christmas too! He went back to his training, his embarrassment all but forgotten.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

"So, what should we do tonight?" Carol asked Casey as she met up with him at his apartment after he had gotten home from work.

Casey shrugged. "I don't know. It's been a long day. I was kind of hoped we could get some Chinese delivery and watch a movie." He plopped down on the couch, took his boots off, and rested his feet on the coffee table as he pet Jake's head.

Carol plopped herself down next to him. "But we do that every night. I want to do something fun and exciting for a change. I used to do all kinds of fun and exciting things before I met you."

Casey looked at her, an eyebrow raised. "And then you met me and now you don't do anything fun because I'm so boring?"

Carol was quick to correct herself. "No! I didn't mean it like that." She placed a hand gently over his arm. "You know I love being with you no matter what we do."

"You're just bored," Casey stated.

Carol shrugged. "Well, quite honestly, yes! I'm used to going to country clubs and yacht parties. I'm used to sailing around Europe and skiing on the Swiss Alps. Now all I do is sit home, eat more than I need to, and watch Netflix."

Casey sighed. "I'm sorry. I guess I'm just not very adventurous."

"Come on. Isn't there something you would love to do that you've never done before?" Carol asked him as she latched onto his arm.

Casey thought about it for a moment. "As a kid, I always wanted to hike Mount Everest, but we can't exactly do that without years of preparation and a boatload of cash. Besides, it was fun to think of as a kid, but as an adult, I really don't have the desire to any longer."

"My exes all ways used to come up with something fun and exciting for us to do," Carol said, trying to push him. In her experience, making a man jealous was always a good way to get him to do your bidding.

"Well, what do you want me to do then?" Casey asked. "I guess they were more creative than I am because I can't think of anything other than skydiving or bungee jumping."

Carol's eyes lit up. "Sky diving! Oh my gosh that sounds so fun! We have to do it!"

Casey looked as if Carol had just suggested they drive off a cliff ala Thelma and Louise.

"None of my other boyfriends have ever taken me sky diving before!" She pulled Casey close and kissed him. "Wanna sky dive?"

Casey grinned weakly and nodded. "Sure!" He hadn't liked Carol implying that he was boring in comparison to her other boyfriends. Maybe this would prove her wrong—especially if none of her exes had ever sky dived with her.

Carol clapped her hands together in excitement. "Oo, I'm so excited!" She got up off the couch. "I'm going to go online and book it right now!"

Casey smiled weakly. "Awesome!" He tried his best to appear excited on the outside. However, on the inside, he felt his insides sink to his stomach. _What have I done?_ He silently wondered.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

"Hello!" Kayla greeted Aiden and Hope when they arrived later that night for dinner. She hugged Hope and shook Aiden's hand. "Thank you for coming."

"Thank you for having us," Hope said with a grin.

Aiden smiled at Kayla. "I brought some wine to go with our dinner." He handed her a bottle of red wine.

"How thoughtful! Thank you," Kayla said as she took the wine from him.

"Well, it was thoughtful of you to invite me," Aiden said.

"I told her not to," Steve said, coming up behind her. He took the bottle of wine from her and looked at it. "This is a crap year. I would think a lawyer like you could afford better wine."

"Steven, what did I tell you?" Kayla snapped.

Steve gave Aiden a clearly false smile. "Thank you, and welcome to our home," he said, his voice dripping with fake sincerity.

"Ignore him," Kayla said as she shut the door behind them. "The table's all set up, so you can come right into the dining room."

They followed her into the dining room, and after gushing about how beautiful the set up was, and how good the food looked, they sat down to eat.

"This meat loaf is delicious, Kayla," Aiden said between bites.

Hope nodded. "It really is!"

Kayla smiled. "Thank you."

They made small talk then. Steve didn't say much throughout the whole dinner.

"I'm sorry you didn't bring the twins!" Kayla said.

"We figured we'd have a more relaxed evening if we didn't have them with us. They were kind of fussy today. Lucas is actually watching them tonight. He's our new nanny since we couldn't agree on anyone else," Hope explained.

"Lucas? Since when is he a nanny?" Steve asked, finally deciding to join their conversation.

"He told us he misses having children to take care of, and he is lonely after his break up with Adrienne. He said he can work around his Countess Wilhelmina schedule, and or work from his laptop if he has to," Aiden replied for Hope.

"Well, if it makes him happy and helps you guys out, that's great. So, you're going back to work?" Kayla asked Hope before sipping her wine.

Hope nodded. "I miss it. I start on Monday."

When they finished their dinner, Steve stood up. "I'll do the cleanup since you cooked."

"Thank you, Honey," Kayla said, kissing him when he leaned down for a kiss.

Steve took their plates, and then headed into the kitchen.

"I'll help," Aiden said, picking up the remainder of the plates. He headed into the kitchen as well.

"Is it really a good idea for him to be alone with Steve?" Kayla asked Hope.

Hope arched an eyebrow. "Aiden can hold his own."

In the kitchen, Aiden set the plates down on the counter by the sink. "Should I put these in the dishwasher?" he asked Steve.

"I don't need any help," Steve growled.

Aiden sighed. "Steve, are you ever going to forgive me for what I did? Cuz I'm trying my best here. I couldn't possibly love Hope more than I already do. She is my world, and frankly, I would kill myself before ever hurting her again. I just honestly am at a loss here. What did I do that was so bad?"

Steve looked at him with cold eyes. "Do you really need to ask? Let me remind you. You started off by Hope being a job to you."

Aiden shrugged. "I needed the money back then. I had a gambling problem that I now overcame. But that's beside the point. I fell in love with her. I would have stayed with her without the money. If I'm not mistaken, I remember Hope saying something about her father being a con man and paid to seduce Julie when he first came to town. He ended up falling in love with her and her with him. Now they are very happily married many years later. It's not that different than me and Hope."

"You agreed to kill her for the insurance money," Steve listed next.

Aiden looked him in the eyes. "I know it was wrong, but I was scared and stupid back then. My son's life was threatened. I thought going to anyone, let alone a cop would get him killed. I shouldn't have tried to take the money from Ciara and Shawn either, but I was desperate to save my son's life. They would have been well taken care of even without her money. This was a matter of life and death for my son. Or so I thought at least. And let _me_ remind _you_ that I couldn't go through with it no matter how scared I was for my son."

"When you came back, you continued to lie to her about that night," Steve tried.

"Which was wrong, but I only lied because I was afraid of losing her. You can't tell me you never lied to Kayla about anything for the same reason," Aiden stated.

Steve's eyes flashed with anger. "You leave Kayla out of this!"

Aiden held his hands up. "I'm just saying, I loved Hope and didn't want to lose her. When I was held captive by Andre, I nearly went crazy. I didn't know if Hope was alive or dead. All I could think about was getting back to Hope and making sure she was safe. I couldn't bear to lose her again. And before you bring it up, yes, I did end up going crazy when I forced her to be with me. But again, it was only out of love. I never raped her. In fact, once I saw how miserable and scared she was, it snapped me out of it, and I let her go. I got help, Steve. I'm a different man than I was back then, but my love for her is just as strong now, if not stronger. Except now, I'm not so messed up in the head."

"Yeah, well that remains to be seen," Steve said with a grunt.

"I know Bo was your best friend. He was one of, if not the best guy in Salem," Aiden said calmly.

"You're damn right he was!" Steve said, his eyes flashing again.

"I'm not trying to be Bo, and I'm not trying to replace Bo. I'm just trying to love the woman of my dreams, and to make up for all the wrongs I've done to her. I'm just trying to make her the happiest she can be. I'd take a bullet for her, Steve. She, the twins, and Chase are my whole world," Aiden said sincerely. He spoke with his heart.

"Yeah, Chase, the rapist son of yours," Steve grumbled.

"No one is to blame but the rapist. What my son did was inexcusable. I'm not going to lie. But he owned up to what he did, and he, like me, is bettering himself. Ciara's even beginning to forgive him," Aiden said calmly.

"Yeah, well that's only because she is a good-hearted person like her mom," Steve grumbled.

Aiden motioned to him. "As are you. Look, you don't have to trust me, Steve. Heck, you don't even have to like me. But can we please be on civil terms at least? For Hope's sake if nothing else? I promise I'm never ever going to intentionally hurt Hope again. I can't even express to you the amount of love I have in my heart for her."

"Whatever," Steve said, non-commitedly. He walked toward the cupboard. "If you want to help, bring out the cherry cobbler while I bring out the fresh plates and forks."

"No problem." Aiden grabbed the cherry cobbler from the kitchen table. "Mm… This smells and looks good," he replied. Steve didn't respond, but Aiden hoped that Steve allowing him to help meant that he was making progress. One could only hope!

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

When Chase arrived at the club, he was surprised to see Bridgette outside talking to a tall, handsome man. She was twirling a pigtail around her finger and laughing as he was telling her something with a smile.

Even though he and Bridgette were just friends, Chase instantly felt a flash of jealousy. Who was this loser? He watched them from afar until the conversation ended. The man kissed her cheek, and then headed into the club. Bridgette was about to follow after him in, but then smiled when she caught sight of Chase out of the corner of her eye. She smiled, and waved, and then headed over to him.

"Hi! When did you get here?" she asked cheerily.

"Just a couple minutes ago," Chase said absent-mindedly. He nodded toward the area where Bridgette had just been talking to the guy. "Who's that man you were talking to?"

"Matt? He's the owner of Neverland. He drops by from time to time to watch a show, and to see how everything is going with the club. He always says I'm his favorite. He's so sweet. He even leaves me extra tips sometimes," Bridgette explained.

"Sounds creepy to me," Chase grumbled.

Bridgette laughed. "Don't be silly! It's not like that. He is totally down to earth and chill. He's protective of us girls—especially me."

"Yeah, well, be careful, all right? I know I'm new to this business, but even so, it strikes me as a type of job you have to always be on your guard." Chase looked around nervously.

"You're sweet to worry, but I promise you, you have nothing to worry about. Matt's a great guy. He's just doing his job." Bridgette latched onto his arm and kissed his cheek. "Now let's go eat. I'm super starved. I was thinking maybe The Olive Garden? We have time if we leave now."

Chase nodded, and then they headed down the street toward his car. He still felt uneasy, but he pushed the thought from his mind so that he could just enjoy his dinner with Bridgette before she had to perform.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

That night, Carol and Casey had had Chinese takeout in, watched a Netflix movie, and then went to sleep early. When they were waiting for the Chinese food to be delivered, Carol had looked up and called the nearest sky diving business. "Lucky" for her and Casey, they had had a cancelation, and there was a spot open for the next morning at ten. So, they had to get up early to get to the sky diving location on time, which was about an hour away.

Carol was so excited about it, and little did she know, he was so terrified about it. He tossed and turned for a good hour, unable to sleep. He was too terrified to sleep. But eventually, he did fall asleep. Though, his fears caught up to him even in his dreams.

 _He was all suited up on the plane with Carol. Carol was smiling and happy. "You're the best boyfriend I ever had!" she cooed as she hugged him. "None of my exes could ever compare to you because they were never cool enough to take me skydiving like you are!"_

 _He could barely hug her back. His arms felt like Jell-O._

 _It was her turn to jump. She grinned at him from the doorway. "Do you want to jump with me?"_

" _After you," he said._

 _She shook her head. "No, I mean literally jump with me." She then grabbed his arm, yanked him toward herself, and then held him tightly as she prepared to jump out of the plane._

 _His heart raced. "No, I don't want to. Carol, I—"_

" _Aw, come on! It will be fun! You're supposed to be more fun than my exes," she said. She then bent her knees to jump._

" _Carol, No. Carol,_ _ **no**_ _!" he screamed as she jumped out._

 _For a while, they freefalled, and then when he went to pull his cord, he realized he no longer had his backpack on. How could that be? He wondered. He remembered putting it on! "I don't have my parachute!" he screamed._

 _Carol smiled at him. "That's okay. I have mine."_

 _His relief was short lived as she pulled her cord and nothing came out._

" _Oh no! My shoot won't open!" she said with wide eyes._

" _What are we going to do?" Casey asked; panicked as he looked around for another jumper to latch onto. There were none in sight._

" _Well, we're obviously going to die. But hey, at least we won't have died boring," Carol said with a smile and a wink._

 _Casey looked at her in shock, and then they went racing toward the ground at lightning speed, and he screamed as loud as his lungs would allow him to._

Casey woke up with a jolt, and sat up in bed, sweating profusely. He needed a drink of water.

He looked over at Carol, who was still sleeping soundly despite the fact that he was pretty sure he had screamed a little in real life. It always amazed him how heavy of a sleeper she was.

He climbed out of bed and headed to the bathroom. He took the glass he had in there for rinsing his mouth, filled it with cold water, and then drank some. After, he set the glass down, and rinsed his face with cold water as he looked in the mirror. Tomorrow was going to be the most terrifying day of his life, he knew. He just hoped it wouldn't also be his last.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

"Thank you again for dinner and dessert. Everything was delicious!" Hope said as she hugged Kayla. It was late, and she and Aiden had to get back to relieve Lucas from twin duty.

Aiden nodded. "I only wish I had a bigger stomach so that I could have eaten even more." He pat his stomach, and Kayla laughed.

"Thank you. You guys are welcome any time," Kayla said, hugging them both.

Aiden held out a hand to Steve. "Thanks for putting up with me tonight."

Steve looked at his offered hand, and then with a grunt, gently shook it. "I did it for Kayla and for Hope; not for you."

"I wouldn't expect it any other way," Aiden said simply.

Steve nodded, then hugged Hope goodbye. "You have a good night, and kiss those little twins of yours for me."

"I will," Hope said, hugging him back. "Goodnight."

Hope and Aiden then left.

"Thank you for giving him a chance," Kayla said to Steve after they had left.

Steve shrugged, then draped an arm over her shoulders. "I still don't fully trust the guy, but for you, I'll give him a shot. But I have my eye on him." He pointed to his patchless eye.

Kayla grinned, and playfully pushed him.

"I mean it!" Steve insisted. "He better not hurt Hope again or he'll have me to answer to. I love her like a sister, and nobody hurts my sister."

"So, you'll go easier on him now unless he gives you a real reason not to?" Kayla asked.

Steve looked into her hopeful eyes. "Maybe."

Kayla smirked. "I'll take a maybe. That means a lot coming from you."

"Like I told Aiden, I won't do it for him. I'll do it for you and for Hope," he continued.

Kayla kissed his cheek, and then laced her fingers with his. "A maybe will do just fine, and I appreciate the gesture. Now let's go to bed. We can leave the clean up for tomorrow. Everything is soaking in the sink anyway."

Steve grinned. "Now _that_ I can give you a definite yes to!" He picked Kayla up and carried her toward the bedroom.

Kayla laughed, and kissed him passionately.

Meanwhile, in the car, Hope smiled at Aiden as he drove. "So, do you think you and Steve were able to mend fences at least a little bit?"

Aiden glanced at her for just a split second. "Maybe." He smiled. "He's a tough cookie to crack though! But I think I managed at least a little crack for now."

Hope nodded. "Good!" She smiled at him again. "I can live with a maybe for now." Her smile then faded. "But that maybe better turn into a yes eventually or I'll kick his ass."

Aiden burst out laughing. "I appreciate that." Hope never ceased to surprise him.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

The show had gone on without a hitch. Chase still couldn't see Bridgette perform without blushing. Especially since they were just friends. He felt like a perv watching through her bedroom window. Well, if she had areal scarves and a stripper pole in her room that is.

When the show was over, he walked out with her and a security guard. Security always walked out with the dancers. It was mandatory.

When they got safely into Chase's car, Chase noticed that he had gotten a text message. He had left his phone in the car on the charger. He looked to see that Carol had texted him. She would be staying the night at Casey's.

He smiled at Bridgette. "Do you want to stay at my condo for the night? My aunt is staying at her boyfriends'."

Bridgette smiled big. "I'd love to! Can we stop for an overnight bag at my place though? I'm also really starved again."

Chase nodded. "Sure! You don't live that far from us. We can pick up a pizza on the way home. I think Pete's is open late."

"Awesome!" Bridgette replied.

So, they got her overnight bag and picked up a pineapple and pepperoni pizza—her favorite—and some sodas before heading back to his place.

"Wow," Bridgette said, looking around the condo. "You're richer than I thought!"

Chase laughed. "My aunt is. I'm just riding on her coattails for now. And speaking of coats…" He helped Bridgette get her coat off. He hung it up in the closet with his, and then they headed to his bedroom. "We can eat on the bed and watch a movie if you'd like."

"Sounds good to me!" she said, plopping herself down onto his bed.

So, for the next hour and a half, they had their midnight snack and watched their movie. When the movie was over, Bridgette went to the bathroom, washed her hands and face, brushed her teeth, and finally changed into a light pink silk cami and silk shorts night set with white lace trim. She had gotten ready in Carol's bathroom while Chase got ready in his. He chose to just wear his blue and green plaid boxers and a matching blue t-shirt.

When Bridgette entered his room, she nearly took his breath away. He had never seen her without makeup before. He actually liked her even better without it.

"You're gorgeous!" he said to her.

She blushed, and lay down on the bed next to him. "Thanks! I don't have any makeup on, so I must not look that good though."

"Are you kidding me? To me, you look even better," he said to her.

She smiled. "Thanks, Chase." She kissed his cheek. "Should I sleep on the couch, or may I sleep in Carol's bed?"

"Wherever you feel most comfortable," Chase said to her. "I can change the sheets if you want to sleep in her bed."

Bridgette smiled again, and settled down underneath his covers with him. She then rested her head on his chest and closed her eyes. "I'm comfortable staying right here with you if that's okay."

Chase gently stroked her hair. "Of course it is."

She smiled yet again. "Thank you."

It didn't take long for Bridgette to fall asleep. And as Chase continued to gently stroke her hair and look down at her beautiful, Angelic-looking face as she slept, he couldn't help but think that maybe he wanted to be more than just friends after all.

He soon drifted off to sleep as well, a slight smile playing at the corners of his lips.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

Casey was even more nervous after their instructional video. They were tandem sky diving, which reminded him a little too much of his dream the night before. Not that he wanted to jump by himself either. He didn't want to jump at all.

Boarding the plane, he felt as if he were boarding a plane he knew was going to explode. At least that would be quick. Then again, he supposed so would falling rapidly to the ground. Visions of his dream haunted him yet again. He had triple checked to make sure his partner had the backpack on.

As the plane escalated higher and higher, Carol kept voicing about how cool it was.

She took his hand. "This will be such an adventure for us!" she said with a grin as she squeezed his hand.

He swallowed hard and nodded. He just hoped this wouldn't be their _last_ adventure. He squeezed her hand hard as if it would be the last time he'd ever touch her. For all he knew, it would be.

When they made it to their desired height, they got ready to jump.

Carol looked down over the edge of the plane door opening and didn't say anything for a long moment. "This will certainly be the biggest adventure I've ever experienced," she then said quietly.

Casey couldn't even move. He could see from where he was seated just how high up they were.

"We're up first! Time to get strapped on to me," his partner said to him.

"Um, maybe Carol should go first," Casey said.

Carol turned around to look at him, her face ghostly pale. "It's okay. I wanna see you jump."

Casey stood up with shaky legs, and immediately sat back down. "I'm sorry, I can't! I know I'm the one that mentioned sky diving, but it was just the first thing that came to mind! I didn't really want to do it! I've been so terrified ever since you booked it! I had a nightmare about it, but I didn't say anything because I didn't want to disappoint you. I don't want to be the boring ex." He looked like he was about to cry.

Carol broke into a huge grin however, and ran over to him. She sat down next to him and took his hand. She kissed it. "I'm so sorry I ever made you feel less of a boyfriend to me. Believe me, what you lack in adventure, you make up for in the way you treat me. You treat me like a princess, and you are more loving to me than any of my exes were. I love you, Casey, and if you don't want to do this, it is more than fine by me!"

Casey looked at her. She had too much relief on her face. She had accepted this too well. "You could jump still if you want."

She shook her head. "Nah! It wouldn't be as fun without you doing it with me. I'm totally cool not doing it though."

Casey smirked. "You don't want to jump either. Do you?" he asked with an eyebrow raised.

She blushed, and grinned sheepishly. "I thought I did until I saw how high up we were. Then I thought about jumping out, and I instantly regretted this."

"And those forms we had to fill out made me want to faint!" Casey said.

"Me too!" Carol said.

They both laughed.

"So, you two aren't jumping?" Carol's partner asked.

"No. I'm sorry. We can't do it!" Carol said.

"Don't worry. You two aren't the first to back out at the last moment, and you won't be the last. We offer full refunds. You can ride back down with the pilot," Casey's partner told them.

"Thank you!" Casey said to them, never feeling more relieved in his life.

Carol nodded. "Yes, thank you!"

"No problem," her partner said.

Hers and Casey's partner both jumped then.

"Maybe we should stick to something a little less adventurous," Casey said as the plane made its way safely back down to the ground. He raised an eyebrow. "Maybe watching a movie that we normally wouldn't want to see?"

Carol laughed. "Maybe you're right. Let's stick with that."

They squeezed each other's hand again, then kissed, both more than happy to not be risking their lives that day, or ever if they could help it.


	69. S3E19

_**This Love…**_

 _ **Season 3 Episode 19: Me, Myself and (I)**_

"Every year, I always contemplate on getting a fake tree. Getting a real tree just seems like such a hassle," Hope said as she put on her winter hat. They were going to go pick out a tree with Casey, Carol, Chase, and Bridgette. Hope wasn't too keen on Christmas tree shopping with Chase, but Ciara was starting to forgive him, so she figured she could at least cut him a break. Besides, she didn't want to be totally unfair to Aiden. He had a right to do something Christmassy with his son. Also, it didn't seem right for Chase not to be able to pick out his and Carol's first Christmas tree with Carol.

"But fake trees aren't as nice! You don't get that nice pine smell," Aiden said as he helped her with her coat.

"If you want, I can buy you a can of pine tree air freshener," Hope said with a smirk. "You're not the one who has to sweep up the pine needles after Christmas is over."

Aiden handed her her scarf. "But I'll do the hauling away of the tree after Christmas. Pine needles can be a pain, yes. Sometimes I get pricked with them, but it's still worth every lost drop of blood to have a nice tree for Christmas instead of a synthetic one."

Hope smirked. "You really love your Christmas trees, don't you?"

Aiden nodded. He then took her hands in his hand kissed them. "Especially when it's _our_ first Christmas tree together."

Hope sighed. "Well, since it means that much to you, let's go."

"I'm also really eager to meet Chase's new girlfriend," Aiden said as she put her gloves on and he put his own coat, scarf, and gloves on.

Hope raised an eyebrow. "Didn't he say she was just a friend?"

Aiden nodded. "But he is with her every day. Trust me, Hope, he likes her as more than just a friend, and he is bringing her to meet us as the final step before making it official."

Lucas arrived them to watch the twins.

Aiden let him in, and after exchanging greetings with Hope and Aiden, Lucas walked over to the twins, who instantly smiled when they saw him.

"And how are the two cutest babies in town?" Lucas asked them in a baby voice.

Maddie giggled.

"Uh oh, I think Maddie has a crush already," Hope teased.

Lucas smiled, and gently stroked her cheek with the back of his hand. "And I have a crush on her too, the little sweetheart," he said.

"You're so lucky I know you don't mean that in a romantic sense," Aiden joked.

Lucas laughed, and stood up. "Don't be sick!"

"It's not entirely unheard of, actually. As a lawyer, I've seen a lot of evil in this world, including pedophilia. As I'm sure Hope has as well," Aiden told him.

Hope nodded. "There are a lot of very sick people in this world."

"Well, I will never be one of those people, so don't you worry," Lucas said with a smirk.

They made small talk a moment more, and then Hope and Aiden both got their boots on, kissed the twins goodbye, and headed for the Christmas tree lot.

"I hope I like Chase's girlfriend. He needs more good influences in his life," Aiden said to Hope as they got into the car.

Hope smiled. "I'm sure she must be nice if he spends this much time with her."

"You would think so," Aiden replied. "But as much as I love my son, that isn't always the case."

 _ **~*came back to me*~**_

"I hope your family likes me," Bridgette said.

"I'm sure they will. They have no reason not to!" Chase assured her. He didn't dare tell her he hadn't told them about her true profession. He only hoped it didn't come up during the night.

"Hey, Chase and Bridgette!" Carol said, hugging first Chase, and then Bridgette. "It's so nice to see you again!" She had met Bridgette once briefly when she had come home just as Bridgette and Chase were leaving the apartment. Chase had introduced them quickly, but then had gotten Bridgette out of there before Carol could ask any questions that he didn't want to give the answers to.

Bridgette smiled brightly. "It's nice to see you too!" she said.

"I love the hair, by the way," Carol commented.

Bridgette grinned. "Thanks!" She twirled her pigtails. One was streaked with red, and the other was streaked with green.

"Hi! I'm Casey," Casey then said, holding out his hand to shake.

"I'm a hugger!" Bridgette said, surprising him by hugging him tightly instead. "I've heard so much about you. I was kind of hoping you'd bring your adorable dog I've been hearing so much about!"

This brought a big grin to Casey's face. "I wanted to!" He shot Carol a look. "But _somebody_ thought he'd just get in the way and try to pee on all the trees."

"He would have!" Carol still insisted.

Casey just rolled his eyes.

Bridgette laughed.

Chase smiled as he watched them. He was so happy they were accepting of Bridgette! He wanted to ask her to be his girlfriend tonight, but he also wanted to wait for the perfect moment.

Aiden and Hope arrived then, holding hands.

"Hi!" Bridgette, never being shy when meeting new people, ran over to them. "You must be Aiden and Hope!" She hugged Aiden, and then Hope just as she had hugged Casey moments before.

Aiden laughed, and hugged her tightly. "Hello! Yes, I'm Aiden. You're Bridgette I hope?"

Bridgette giggled. "Sorry. I forgot to add that. I was just so excited to finally be meeting Chase's dad and dad's girlfriend." She grinned.

"Well you're nice and friendly!" Aiden said to her. He then looked at Chase and grinned. "I like her! She's very pretty too."

Bridgette blushed. "You're too kind."

"It's very nice to meet you, Bridgette. I love the festive hair!" Hope said to her.

"Thank you so much! I always have fun changing it up," Bridgette replied.

Chase then hugged his father in greeting. He smiled and nodded at Hope. "Hello, Hope!"

"Hello, Chase." Hope smiled weakly at him. "Are you excited to be picking out your first tree?"

Chase nodded. "Dad and I used to pick one out for our house, and now I get to pick one out for my own place."

"Correction, _our_ own place!" Carol said, coming up to him and draping an arm around his shoulders. She smirked at him.

Chase smirked at her in return. " _Our_ own place," he corrected.

"Let's get to this, shall we?" Casey asked, coming over then. "Before all the good trees are taken. I don't want any Charlie Brown Christmas tree."

They laughed, and then followed him to pick out their trees.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

Aiden was looking at a tree he thought would be perfect for him and Hope. "Hope! Where'd you go?" he called out, looking around. "I think I found a good one." He didn't see her anywhere around. "Hope?" he tried again. Suddenly, he felt something sharp hit the back of his neck. "Ouch!" He slapped the back of his neck instinctively, thinking it was a bug. Suddenly, he heard Hope's laughter. He turned to see her standing there, a huge grin on her face, holding up a long pine needle.

"Do you still think real trees are fun?" she asked, and eyebrow raised.

"Did you seriously just prick the back of my neck with a pine needle?" he asked, trying to feign annoyance as he rubbed the back of his neck, but he was unable to keep a smile from crossing his face. He loved her laugh.

"I'm sorry. I just couldn't resist!" she said.

" _Haha_ ," Aiden said sarcastically.

"Don't worry. There are no drops of blood," Hope teased.

Aiden rolled his eyes, but grinned nonetheless. "What do you think of this one?" He motioned to the tree in front of them.

Hope looked at it, and then raised an eyebrow at him. "It's kind of big, isn't it?"

Aiden rubbed his chin. "Funny, you said the same thing last night, didn't you?"

"Oh my gosh, can you not say stuff like that in public?" Chase complained, coming up behind him just then.

Bridgette giggled. "I think he's funny."

"You'd be the only one!" Hope said with a smirk, though she secretly adored his sense of humor. It was one of the things that had attracted her to him in the first place. One of the many things… Once he had been able to stop acting like a jerk for two seconds that was. She smiled at the memory.

" _Haha_!" Aiden said sarcastically.

Bridgette smiled. "You two make such a cute couple."

"I think so!" Aiden agreed, as he pulled Hope closer to him.

"Eh, he's all right," Hope teased. But she smiled big, and lovingly kissed him.

"This tree over there is small, but it would be great to buy to put on stage as part of my act. I wonder if I could swing around it on my areal scarves to 'Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree'. Or we could do a risqué group dance like on _Mean Girls_ , only more adult or course." She winked at Chase.

Chase flushed fifty shades of crimson.

"What do you mean?" Aiden asked her, the confusion written all over his face.

She looked at him. "For my job," she said simply.

"You remember, Dad. I told you about her being a choreographer," Chase said, hoping Bridgette would get the hint.

Bridgette laughed. "Well, I guess you could call me that. But a lot of my dances I learned from someone else. Not all of them but some. I mainly just swing on the areal scarves. Well, aside from when I occasionally do the pole, or adlib. Yeah, when I adlib I guess you could say I'm a choreographer."

Hope scrunched her eyebrows in confusion. "Pole?"

Bridgette looked at her, a look of confusion on her own face. "Yeah. Didn't Chase tell you? I'm a stripper at Neverland, the strip club downtown."

"Say what?" Aiden asked. "Chase told me you just did plays and theater stuff."

Bridgette looked from Aiden to Chase. Then it dawned on her. He hadn't wanted to admit what her job was. "Oh," she said. She then looked back at Aiden. "Well this got awkward fast. Didn't it?" She blushed. She didn't embarrass easily anymore, but this time, she was _really_ embarrassed.

"I'm sorry I lied!" Chase said to both Bridgette and his father. "I just didn't think it was appropriate to bring up over Thanksgiving lunch."

"So you're embarrassed by what I do and think it's inappropriate." Bridgette laughed bitterly. " _Nice_! Why don't you tell me how you _really_ feel?"

"No, no! That's not it!" Chase looked at only Bridgette then. "I didn't want them to get a stereotype idea about you. I wanted them to meet you and get to know you first. Like it or not, some people think a certain way about strippers. It doesn't mean you're bad. It just means people have different ideas about what is right and wrong sometimes."

Bridgette seemed to calm down a bit. "I'm a little hurt, but I guess I can understand that."

Chase hugged her. "You are so awesome to me. I'm sorry I hurt your feelings. It was never my intention to do so."

Bridgette smiled big then. "I forgive you!" She kissed his cheek. "But great idea, right?" She pointed to the tree she had been talking about.

Chase nodded. "But how are we going to get all these Christmas trees home?"

"I'll just get a fake one for my apartment. There's barely a point in getting one at all, let alone a real one since it's only me at home," Bridgette said with a shrug. "We'll just get the one for _Neverland_."

"A girl after my own heart! Fake trees are better," Hope said to her. She didn't want the poor girl to feel out of place. Besides, she felt kind of bad for Chase, which surprised her.

Bridgette nodded. "Plus, there's no clean up, and you can just store it for next year when you're done instead of having to dispose of it and buy another one."

"Exactly!" Hope agreed.

"I still say Christmas trees are nicer," Aiden stated.

Hope rolled her eyes, then took his hand. "Come on. Let's go find ours, and then get out of here. It's getting colder out."

"We'll be back!" Aiden said with a smile at Chase. He glanced at Bridgette for a second and blushed, then let Hope pull him away.

"I can't believe he's dating a stripper! What is wrong with him?" Aiden asked.

Hope sighed. "She seems like a nice girl. It wouldn't be a choice occupation for me for one of my children to be, but he seems happy with her, and you can't deny she's a nice girl."

Aiden looked at her with an eyebrow raised. "I'm surprised you're this open about her. Skylar was a little rough around the edges, but she wasn't a stripper. She was a vet in training, yet you still didn't like her."

"It just took me some getting used to—my daughter liking women," Hope explained. "Once I got to know Skylar, I liked her better. Take it from me and my experience with Ciara. You're only going to push him away if you don't accept Bridgette. Try not to judge her, okay? Besides, she is only his friend. For now at least." Hope squeezed his hand and kissed his cheek.

Aiden looked at her and smiled. "I suppose you're right."

Hope raised an eyebrow. "If we're going to get married one day, you're soon going to learn that I am _always_ right, Mr. Jennings."

Aiden laughed. "Duly noted!"

They continued walking, and then they saw a tree that was just the right height for their house, and very full. It was beautiful.

"I think we found our tree," Hope said as they stared at it in awe.

"I think so too!" Aiden replied.

They smiled at each other, excited for their first Christmas together since 2014.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

"I'm sorry again for the way I acted," Chase said after he and Bridgette walked through the lit up tree lot.

Bridgette smiled. "It's okay. All is forgiven."

"I know now is probably not the best time to ask, but I don't want to wait to ask you," Chase began. He blushed. He wasn't good at this kind of thing.

Bridgette grinned. "You sound like you're about to propose."

"I am," he said.

She looked shocked.

He then grinned, and got down on one knee. "Will you…be my girlfriend?"

She shook her head, then playfully swatted his shoulder. "You dork! You had me there for a second!" But then she smiled. "Of _course_ I'll be your girlfriend, Chase! I thought you'd never ask."

Chase stood up. "Really?"

She grinned big and nodded, her pigtails shaking. "Really! Now let's seal it with a kiss!"

She didn't have to tell Chase twice! They kissed, and it was everything he dreamed it would be and more.

"You're a really good kisser," Bridgette said with a bright smile as she took his hand.

He smiled too. "Thanks! So are you."

They were both on cloud nine. It was the good thing Chase and Carol had already agreed upon a tree, because his mind was barely on anything but Bridgette. It was still on the euphoric high as Bridgette paid for her tree, and the Christmas tree lot attendant tied it to the roof of Chase's car.

Then, after bidding Aiden, Hope, Carol, and Casey goodbye, they left for Neverland.

"She's nice. I like her!" Carol commented after they had left.

"Did you know she's a stripper?" Aiden asked.

"What? You're shitin' me," Carol said.

Aiden shook his head. "Nope! She told us herself. Chase didn't tell us the whole truth!"

"Well, she's pretty enough to be one," Casey noted.

Carol elbowed him.

"I'm just sayin'," Casey said with a shrug.

"How do you feel about that?" Carol asked Aiden with a smirk. She knew her brother could be a fuddy duddy sometimes when it came to that sort of thing.

"I'm not thrilled with it, but she is a nice girl and seems to make Chase happy. I just hope she's not the type to sleep around on him," Aiden worried.

"Oh, Aiden, stop stereotyping! I just think this whole situation is funny." Carol giggled.

Aiden just rolled his eyes at her. He didn't find it funny, but he would take Hope's advice and give Bridgette a chance. He just hoped it wasn't a mistake to do so, for he didn't think Chase could handle another heart break.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

Lucas helped Aiden carry the tree into the house while Hope set up the Christmas tree stand and poured the water in.

Once the tree was set up, they all stood back and admired it.

"It's a nice sized tree! Not to big, and not too small. It's just the right size," Lucas said. "It will look even nicer when you decorate it."

"Thanks! As soon as we saw it, we knew it was perfect," Aiden replied.

"Are you getting a tree this year?" Hope asked Lucas.

Lucas nodded. "My mother insisted on having a huge, beautiful one delivered to me. Sami is actually coming down with the kids and they are all going to spend Christmas morning at my place."

"That will be nice," Hope said with a smile.

They made small talk a little longer, and then after they paid Lucas, he left them for the night.

The twins had been fed an hour before, and were freshly changed and in bed.

Hope and Aiden went up to check on them. They were all bundled up comfortably in their cribs and sleeping peacefully. Lucas had done an excellent job.

They then went to the attic and got out the two big boxes of ornaments Hope owned. Next, they headed downstairs to decorate the tree since it was still early.

Hope smiled as she opened the first box and saw a little snowman made of glued together cotton balls, black puffy glue for the eyes and mouth, a tiny orange felt carrot for the nose, and little twigs glued into the cotton on each side for the arms. He was even wearing a tiny felt hat. "Ciara made this in kindergarten! Isn't it adorable? I remember her teacher telling me Ciara did everything herself. Ciara had insisted on doing it all by herself! Though I suspect the nose and hat were already premade." She winked at Aiden, and then hung it on the tree. Her heart missed little Ciara. There was something about the younger years that were just so special! You couldn't get them back.

Aiden smiled as he too admired the ornament. "That's so cute! I kept a few of Chase's ornaments. He has them now though. I figured they'd be more appropriate on his tree."

Hope looked at him with sympathy. "You could have put some of his ornaments on here. I don't deny you being his father. And I remember Chase as a kid. I loved him as my own until…Well you know." Hope pushed some hair behind her ear and looked away, and then grabbed some more ornaments.

"Is there any rhyme or reason to where these are supposed to go?" Aiden asked her as he helped her to hang them.

"No, just wherever. Ciara and I never really used to pay any attention where we put them. Bo was always just happy to watch us decorate. He didn't care where we hung things just as long as we were happy," Hope said, smiling at the memory.

"I wish I had gotten the chance to know him," Aiden said. "He sounds like he was an amazing guy to know."

"Me too. He was. More than words can say," Hope said, her eyes tearing up just a bit.

Aiden put an arm around her. "We could have waited for Ciara to hang the ornaments."

Hope shook her head. "She's busy with vet school and won't be back until early Christmas Eve. She told me that you and I could go ahead and decorate without her."

Aiden rubbed her back. "Well, it is kind of nice decorating it just the two of us. As I said earlier today, it's our first Christmas tree together."

Hope kissed him. "Our first of many."

"You got that right!" Aiden said, kissing her lovingly again. He then picked up another ornament. "Now this is adorable." He held up a clay reindeer with an eye screw in the head and a red ribbon strung through the screw for hanging.

Hope grinned. "Ciara. Tenth grade."

"And this one?" Aiden asked after hanging it up and picking up another one. He held up a snowflake painted light blue and sprinkled silver glitter. "Is this cut from toilet paper rolls?"

Hope nodded. "Hope Williams. Eighth grade. I made when it when I was thirteen at my then best friend's house. Her mother was really into crafting and taught us how to make those. It has the year and my name written on the inside of one of the flakes."

Aiden looked, and then smiled. "Well, what do you know? It does! So precious!" He hung it on the tree. "I don't know where any of mine or Carol's ornaments are. Come to think of it, I don't remember ever making any."

Hope raised an eyebrow. "Not even in school?"

Aiden shook his head. "Not that I remember. I'll have to ask Carol, but I have no idea where any would be if I did."

"That's sad. Everyone should have an ornament they made as a kid!" Hope said.

Aiden nodded sadly as he saw Hope staring lovingly at a red heart ornament with a picture of her and Bo in it. She got teary-eyed. "Ciara made this for us our last Christmas all together. Little did she know then it would be his last Christmas with us." She hung it up on the tree.

"These are such wonderful ornaments. I can tell they all mean so much to you," Aiden said.

Hope nodded. "They do."

"I wish we had some ornaments that were ours," Aiden quipped. "Not to complain or anything. I'm just blessed to have you back. It's just that I feel kind of alone here. I don't even have any ornaments of my son's, let alone of myself or of us."

Hope kissed his cheek, and then took his hand in hers. "We have plenty of time to get ornaments that mean a lot to us." She smiled at him and squeezed his hand.

Aiden nodded. Then he grinned. "Maybe we can start with getting some 'Baby's First Christmas ornaments for the twins."

Hope grinned too. "I'd love that!"

They then went back to decorating the tree.

"Maybe we should have strung the lights before we put up the ornaments," Aiden noted once they had finished with the ornaments and he was holding up a string of colored lights.

Hope slapped her forehead. "I meant to! Gosh, I can't believe I forgot those."

"It's okay; they look cuter on me anyway." Aiden strung them around himself, then plugged them in.

Hope laughed. "You're right, they actually do."

"Do I light up your life, Hope?" Aiden asked, wriggling his eyebrows at her.

Hope laughed again. "You're such a nut!"

"But do I light up your life," Aiden asked with a smile as he pulled her closer to him.

"Mm, yes, my love." She gently stroked his hair. "You light up my life in many ways."

His eyes lowered with love for her. "And you light up mine."

They then kissed for a moment before breaking free.

"We can just work around the ornaments," Aiden said as he began stringing them around the tree. Are these long enough?"

"I have more," Hope said. She found the other string in the box, and helped him string the lights around the tree and ornaments.

When they were done, they spread some silver tinsel.

Hope took some out of the bag and strung it over his head. "I thought you might want some extra hair. At least it matches. Though, it is a little bit more metallic than your grey." She winked at him.

"Look! You have a few strands yourself," he said as he put some tinsel on her head. He then raised an eyebrow. "Did your hair dresser miss a spot when touching up your roots?"

Hope gasped, and playfully swatted him. "I'll have you know I still have all of my natural color, thank you! I do not color my hair."

"Oh yeah? Because those streaks of silver say otherwise," Aiden teased.

Hope playfully tossed some more tinsel at him, and then he tossed some at her, and soon they were laughing, and getting tinsel all over the floor.

"And you were worried about the _pine needles_ making a mess!" Aiden joked when they were finished, and had observed their mess.

Hope smirked. "But this was a lot more fun than pine needles."

Aiden nodded. "True."

"Let's save the clean up for tomorrow." She took Aiden's hand in hers and kissed it. Then with a look in her eyes that Aiden knew all too well, she purred into his ear, "I want to continue our playing upstairs…and I don't mean with the tinsel."

He moaned. "Just let me turn of the lights."

"Leave the tree lights on. They're LED. They'll be safe," Hope ordered.

Aiden nodded. He then turned off the lights, picked up Hope, and finally carried her up the stairs, kissing her the whole way to the bedroom.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

Casey was a fake tree kind of guy, but he had come along to help Carol and Chase with their tree. Though, now that he and Carol were bringing their tree into hers and Chase's condo, Chase was nowhere to be found.

"So nice of him to ditch us and not help with the Christmas tree that's part his," Carol said sarcastically. She helped Casey get the tree in the door, which was not a small task when it came to getting it through the complex, up the elevator, and then in their small door.

"He can still decorate it with you when he gets back," Casey reasoned.

"He won't be able to until we buy some ornaments. I only have keepsake ornaments, and they are all in storage," Carol explained. "Right in front of the sliding glass door will be a nice spot for it to go, right?" she then asked.

"I don't think there's anywhere else it will fit," Casey replied.

Carol nodded. "You're right." She quickly filled the Christmas tree stand with water, and placed it where they would be putting the tree.

She then helped Casey place the tree in the stand and secure it.

"It's a good thing you got some muscle on you!" Casey said to her.

She smirked. "Just because I'm a woman does not mean I don't have strength."

"Very true!" Casey said with a nod. "I apologize for any sexist implication that I may have unintentionally implied."

Carol kissed his cheek. "You're forgiven! You're lucky you're cute!"

Casey grinned and blushed. "Well, I have to be going. Jake will be very upset with me if I forget to stop at the store for his favorite dog treats. He's out, and I promised them I'd get them on the way home. I don't want him to be upset with me for not bringing them."

Carol scrunched her eyebrows at him. "I don't think he's going to know the difference."

Casey shook his head. "Oh, believe me. He'll know."

Carol laughed. "Again, you're lucky you're cute!" She kissed him. "Drive safely. Thanks for helping me."

"Any time, Darlin'!" He kissed her softly on the lips, and then left after locking the door behind him. He knew Chase had the key.

Carol looked at their tree proudly. It was beautiful, and would look wonderful once they got it decorated. She left the light above the sink on for Chase, and then headed to her bedroom. She planned on getting dressed into some of her favorite Christmassy pajamas, and then watching a Christmas movie on Netflix. She loved Christmas, and loved getting into the spirit. And tomorrow, she would be able to do her Christmas shopping with Chase. At least, she he hoped so. Casey was working, and Christmas shopping alone was absolutely no fun.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

Chase and Bridgette had dropped the tree off at Neverland. It was guys' night, but Tracey loved her idea, and said she would get make sure to get it stored in a safe place. Bridgette had brought a tree stand too, and Tracey promised to fill it with water and put the tree in it.

After they left Tracey, Chase had taken Bridgette home.

"I don't have classes until later tomorrow night. Do you want to come Christmas shopping with Carol and me? We can get you a fake tree," Chase asked her.

Bridgette smiled. "Thanks, but I promised a friend I'd have lunch with them." She kissed Chase's cheek. "Want to stay over though?" She pushed his coat off his shoulders and let it fall to the ground.

Chase smiled. "Maybe I could stay for a little bit…"

She grinned, then took his hand and led him from the living room to her bedroom.

She stopped him at the foot of the bed and took his shirt off. She had already taken her boots and coat off, and now pulled off her turtleneck sweater, and the t-shirt she had on underneath it. Next to go were her socks and jeans.

Chase stepped out of his boots and pushed his socks off using the opposing foot to take them off one at a time. He let her undo his belt and pull it off, and he slid out of his jeans.

He then admired her body. She had the perfect body with a flat stomach and great abs. Her years professional dancing were apparent. She had on a matching crimson red satin and lace bra and underwear set.

He held her close, and they kissed passionately, and then, before he knew what was happening, they were lying on her bed with him on top of her.

But as he was preparing to take her underwear off, he had flash backs to all those years ago of raping Ciara. He suddenly felt sick. He hadn't been with a woman since Ciara. Thoughts of what Trevin had done to him weren't helping things either.

He rolled off of her and lay down on his back. "I don't think we should do this," he said.

She pouted. "But we're having so much fun! Why not?" She then smiled slyly, and climbed on top of him. She reached behind herself and unlatched her bra, and tossed it of the side of the bed. She took out her pigtails and shook her hair free. Finally, she leaned down so close that her hair was rubbing against his bare chest. "Don't worry, I'm not a virgin. You don't have to be gentle," she purred into his ear in a seductive whisper.

Chase smiled, and she began to kiss him. He began to hungrily kiss her back. He wanted her so badly. But then the visions of raping Ciara came back into his mind, followed by the visions of Trevin raping _him_. And he couldn't do it. "I'm sorry, I can't."

Bridgette didn't seem to hear him as she continued to kiss down his neck and tug at his underwear. She moaned.

"Bridgette, I said no! I don't want to!" He pushed her a little more roughly than he had intended to, and she fell off the bed with a loud thud. "Ow."

Chase's eyes got big, and he quickly dodged across the bed, looked down over the edge, and offered her a hand to help her up off the floor. "Are you all right? I am _so_ sorry! I didn't mean to push you that hard!"

"It's all right. Just go, please. I'm tired, and I want to get some sleep," Bridgette said quietly.

Chase nodded, knowing that that was what was best. He got off the bed on his side and quickly redressed. By the time he had finished, he noticed that Bridgette had put a silk nightgown on.

"I'm sorry," he said quietly. He had tears in his eyes. He wanted to cry. He didn't have the guts to tell her what was wrong with him. He might lose her if he did, he knew.

"Goodnight, Chase," Bridgette said, looking away from him. She was now sitting on her bed with her knees tucked underneath her.

Chase sadly sighed. "Goodnight, Bridgette."

He then left her apartment, locking up behind himself with a sad sigh. And as he drove home, he couldn't help but wonder if, because of what he had done and what was done to him, he would be alone for the rest of his life. At this rate, he was thinking he probably would. The thought was almost too much for him to bear.


	70. S3E20

_**This Love…**_

 _ **Season 3 Episode 20: Lucky Town**_

Hope had the perfect Christmas present for Aiden in mind. Of course, it would only be one of a few presents, but she somehow had a feeling it would be his favorite of all the gifts she would be giving him. She could hardly wait to get her day started.

She bid Lucas and the twins farewell, and then headed out to start the first of many of her errands.

The first place she went to was the most important. After all, it was the place that would have the most important gift. After that, she went to Gucci. She wanted to get him a nice new briefcase. His other one was wearing out, and she had heard him mention several times that he had wanted a new one. He thought the standard briefcases looked too much like suitcases, yet he thought the ones that looked like bags were too much like a purse. However, she had found a black leather one that was in-between the two styles. It wasn't too suitcase-like, but it also wasn't too purse-like. It was a happy medium that both was and looked very manly. She was going to have his name engraved on it in gold.

After she had purchased it, they got right to work at engraving it. She wanted to get some more shopping done, so she promised to come back for it.

She then headed to Neiman Marcus and bought Aiden some nice clothes. She bought him a few handsome cashmere sweaters in blue, red, and green. She also got him a new grey suit which she would pay for him to have tailored later. She bought him a variety of nice silk ties, some dress shirts, some dress shoes, and some undershirts. She even bought him a Rolex, some new underwear, and some new dress socks. It had all come to a lot more than she had realized it would cost, but she didn't care. This was their first Christmas together in what seemed like forever. She wanted it to be special. Besides, his birthday was in a few days, so some of it would be for his birthday.

She picked up his briefcase then. The engraving had come out beautifully. Then, after stopping at home to hide the gifts and say a brief hello to Lucas and the twins, she headed back out. There was still plenty more to do before Aiden would join her for dinner later that evening.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

Chase had kept himself busy with his dance training, and was surprised and nervous when he was told by his choreographer Amanda that he was ready for his first show. Tracey had seen him dance and agreed wholeheartedly. He would debut at their New Year's Eve show.

On the way back from class, he stopped by Bridgette's place. He hadn't spoken to her in days, nor had he dared go to any of her shows. He couldn't face her! But now he found himself missing being able to tell her about his first show coming up. He also wanted her to help him with his stripper name and his theme, or whatever one would call it.

He parked in her complex's driveway and turned of his car. He took a deep breath and slowly let it out. "You can do this," he whispered to himself. After his self-pep talk, he got out the car and headed to her apartment. He knocked on her door, and a moment later, she opened the door.

"I never thought I'd see _you_ here again," she said matter-of-factly.

He blushed. "I'm sorry I waited so long to call. And I'm really sorry about the other night. It's nothing having to do with you. It has to do with something I should have told you before I asked if you'll be my girlfriend."

"I'm listening," she said with a shrug.

"Please don't make me say it in the hallway," he pleaded.

She sighed, and stepped back, allowing him in.

"Thank you," he said, walking in.

She motioned for him to sit down on the couch. "Make it quick. I have to get to rehearsals."

He nodded, and sat down on the couch. She sat down in front of him on the chair. She had aqua-streaked hair and an aqua blue sequenced dress on. He was guessing the silk and satin was her underwear, as usual.

"Four years ago, I was a mess. My father had been kidnapped and held hostage. He had been replaced with a clone, who tried to kill Hope and was killed in the process. So, in other words, I thought my dad was dead. My aunt didn't want me with her at the time, and Hope pretended like she cared about me, but I knew she didn't care about me as much as she did Ciara. She was going through her own thing at the time anyway. I had no one, but Andre Dimera," he began.

"Wait. Are you for real? This all sounds like it's out of some horror movie or science fiction novel." Bridgette stood up and crossed her arms over her chest. "If you're lying to me, Chase Jennings…"

"I'm not! Please, believe me. You can ask anyone, and they will confirm isn't true," Chase insisted.

Bridgette sighed, and sat back down. "Keep going."

"Andre is a troublemaker. He's not exactly a model citizen. He was a horrible influence on me and filled my head with lies. He screwed me up, but I know that only I am truly responsible for the things I did," Chase continued.

"What did you do?" Bridgette asked, curious now.

Chase couldn't look at her when he answered her. "I had convinced myself that I was in love with Ciara, Hope's daughter. We had been friends for a long time, and then stepbrother and sister. When my dad 'died', I figured we weren't siblings anymore, and that I could pursue her. I kissed her. She told me she wasn't ready for our relationship to be like that. I was so sick in the head at the time that I was still convinced that she wanted to be with me. So, despite her telling me that she didn't want it, I was convinced that she _did_ want it. And I…"

"You what, Chase?" Bridgette asked in a whisper even though she had a pretty good idea what he had done. She had tears in her eyes.

"I raped her. I raped her and then I left her. I knew immediately after the rape what I had done. I knew that it was wrong. I was so horrified with myself and so terribly sorry, but it was too late. She hated me, as did all of our friends. With good reason of course. I was put in jail. My dad was able to escape and come back to us son after, and he was able to get me into a mental institution instead. I was stabbed in jail. That along with him being a lawyer helped get me out of jail. When things went south with him and Hope—my dad went a little nuts too—so we decided to go back to our hometown of Portland. We both got the help we needed, and soon I was out of the mental hospital."

Bridgette nodded in understanding, but didn't say anything. She didn't know what to say.

Chase continued. "But it didn't end there. I was kidnapped by Jeremiah Jackson, a friend of an enemy of my father's. To make a long story short, he injected me with a drug that made me forget who I really was. I thought that my parents had abandoned me, and that Jeremiah and his son Trevin were my only family. Trevin was close to my age, so he and I were friends until one night when he decided he wanted to be more than friends with me. Without getting into details, he ended up raping me. I escaped after the rape, and found my way back home. I had stop taking the meds by then, and had my memories back. Shortly after, Trevin was found dead, washed up in the Hudson River. Jeremiah was caught and is in prison awaiting trial. His trial has been pushed to after the New Year. I'll have to testify. Anyway, I wanted to make love with you. I really did. But the last time I slept with a woman was when I raped Ciara. I kept getting both visions of raping Ciara and being raped by Trevin in my head. That is why I couldn't sleep with you. I also wanted you to be aware of it before we slept together that I was a rapist and also raped. I just hadn't been ready to tell you yet."

Bridgette was quiet for a long moment. "So, you got the help you needed?"

Chase nodded. "I promise I would never ever rape you or anyone else ever again! Not that it is any excuse, but I was just in a bad place back then. I'm much better now. I've even been talking with Father Lewis, my priest about things. He's helped me cope with both what I did, and with what was done to me."

"Well, at least you got the help you needed. And I suppose it was a good sign that you didn't want to sleep with me. If you still had rapist tendencies, you wouldn't have cared, and you would have slept with me anyway," Bridgette reasoned.

Chase nodded. "I'd never ever rape another person in my life! Trust me, I feel the guilt for it every day of my life and I always will."

"I'm sorry I got to mad, and that I pushed. I guess my ego was just bruised." Bridgette looked down at her lap. "I felt you really weren't attracted to me, and it upset me." She looked at Chase. "Believe it or not, even though I'm a stripper, I still have self-esteem issues. They stem from my step-dad being such a jerk. They also stem from being told I need to lose weight, or watch what I eat so that I can still be attractive to our clients."

"Are you kidding me? Lose more weight? Bridgette, your body is smokingly perfect, as is your beautiful face! Anyone that tells you otherwise is either blind, crazy, or both," Chase said simply.

Bridgette smiled big at him, and then walked over to him, sat down in his lap, and embraced him. "I appreciate that so much!" She kissed his cheek. "What do you say we take our relationship slow? All my life I've taken things fast. It might be nice just to take it slow for a change and let it take its own course. How would you like that?"

Chase smiled too. "I'd like that very much!" He then raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure you don't mind dating a former rapist?"

Bridgette shook her head. "No, because I know the former part is true. I don't want anybody judging _me_ for my past, so I won't judge them for _theirs_ —including not judging you for yours."

Chase kissed her. "I'm so lucky to have you."

She smiled. "And I'm lucky to have _you_!"

"I also have some good news," he told her.

She grinned. "What?"

"My first show will be the New Year's Eve show. Both Amanda and Tracey think I'm ready."

Bridgette squealed with delight and happily clapped her hands together. "Oh my gosh, yay!" She raised an eyebrow. "Have you decided your theme yet? Or your stripper name?"

Chase blushed. "I was actually hoping you'd be able to help me with that."

Bridgette grinned. "You've come to the right person!" She kissed his cheek, and then hopped out of his lap. She took his hand and helped him up. "We'll work on it after my practice."

"Thanks!" Chase said. He kissed her then, once again feeling like the luckiest guy on earth.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

Aiden took off as soon as it was his lunch hour. He wanted to get Hope's Christmas presents while he still could. Hope was always around other than when they were both at work. She had a day off from work, and he knew she was more than likely buying his gifts today. They were to meet in the square at dinnertime and do some Christmas shopping together.

He went to a mall that was twenty minutes away. He didn't want to run into Hope and have either of their gifts spoiled. He had a slow workload today and no court dates, so he was able to take an extra hour for lunch besides his usual hour. He hated shopping, but he was more than willing to shop when it meant buying things to make Hope happy.

He bitched as he got to the mall and had to drive around three times until a parking spot finally opened up.

"What a bunch of animals!" he muttered to himself, hoping there were still good presents left.

He entered the crowded mall, eager to get out of there as soon as possible.

He started off by getting Hope a silk blouse in a beautiful rosy pink color that he thought would look beautiful on her. Next, he picked up a gorgeous floral blazer. He knew how much she loved blazers, and the one he had picked out would go wonderful with the blouse. He bought her a couple stunning dresses that took his breath away at the mere thought of her in them. He bought her a purple cashmere sweater, for he loved her in purple. After all, she had been wearing purple the day he had fallen in love with her. He bought her a pair of purple pumps too, just because he thought she'd look sexy in them. He also bought her a black pair, a red pair, and a navy pair. He couldn't help himself. He loved spoiling her, and he knew the other colors would be more practical than the purple. He bought her a diamond tennis bracelet and the necklace to match. Finally, he bought her something sexy to wear to bed. It was black and purple and very lacy and see-through. It had made him blush when he checked out with it. He felt kind of like a pervert. But he simply could not resist after seeing it on the mannequin. Picturing it on Hope was almost enough to make him want to find her immediately and ravish her.

He grabbed a quick lunch at the food court, and then headed back to the office, pleased with his purchases, and pleased that the lines hadn't been as bad as he had feared they'd be.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

Meanwhile, Chase was doing some shopping of his own with Bridgette. She had paired him in a pair of extremely tight medium-wash denim jeans, black motorcycle boots with silver studs, and a black tank top under a black leather jacket. She had an idea that he would ride in on a motorcycle, and then do his act on the cycle. He would also move his act to the pole at one point. She had even come up with his stripper name: Speed Chaser.

"Not everyone uses their real name, but some do. I think it will be hot, and a cute play off of Speed Racer!" Bridgette said. You can be the sexy bad boy on the motorcycle for your opening show!" She clapped her hands together. "We can get you a lesson or two. All you need to lean how to do is turn it on, drive it forward a couple feet, and turn it off." She clapped her hands together and squealed with delight again. "I think I'm even more excited about this than _you_ are."

Chase laughed. "I just hope this isn't too cheesy. I still don't feel like I'm all that hot. I've absolutely never seen myself as a heartthrob."

Bridgette licked her lips. "Trust me, you are, and once you do your act, you'll believe it when you see how many women are hooting, hollering, and stuffing bills in your Speedo. Which reminds me, we have to get you a leather one."

Chase blushed. "I still don't feel comfortable in those. Can't I start off in leather boy shorts instead? I can wear a Speedo when I get more used to stripping."

Bridgette laughed. "Sure. I'm sure Tracey will be just fine with it. But they have to be short and tiny! It's the only way she'll agree."

"Fine," Chase said. He blushed some more. He was still kind of embarrassed about this whole thing, but if Bridgette would enjoy it, then he was more than willing to do it for her no matter how much embarrassment it may give him.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

Hope had run her errands during the rest of the day, and had stopped at Pete's Pizza for a quick lunch. She had then gone home for a bit to play with the twins and hide the rest of the gifts she had gotten. She had even bought Lucas a sweater that she knew would keep him nice and warm and bring out his eye color nicely.

And then she had paid Lucas, and bundled up the twins before heading back out with them in their double stroller. Lucas had a nighttime meeting he couldn't get out of. He had offered to get Will to watch them, but she wanted to take the twins with her to see Santa anyway.

She waited at the square for Aiden. He was right on time. Unbeknownst to her, he had hidden her gifts in his law firm—in his office closet to be exact.

He kissed her cheek, and then the twins' cheeks. Maddie smiled her biggest smile yet!

"You're happy to see Daddy, aren't you?" he asked her. He picked her up and blew a raspberry on her cheek, causing her to giggle.

Hope smiled at them. She wasn't even four months yet, and still she had Aiden wrapped around her little finger. "I thought we'd take the twins to see Santa while the line's not long."

"Sure!" Aiden said. "They look so cute in their Christmas attire!" He set Maddie back down in the stroller next to her brother. Madeleine was wearing a little dress with candy canes all over it, and she had a red bow headband on her head. Haiden was wearing a red and white striped shirt, red Santa pants, red suspenders, and a little Santa hat. Maddie had red patent leather buckle shoes on, and Haiden had on tiny little black boots.

"They're an early Christmas present from Lucas. He surprised me with them to me today when he heard I wanted to take them to see Santa. He took them out earlier and had the boutique owner help him find their size. He knew they'd be perfect for meeting Santa in."

He wasn't wrong!" Aiden said, getting out his wallet. He grinned at his twins, and kissed their cheeks, causing them _both_ to smile this time.

They paid for the 8x10 and a wallet sheet. Then, they brought the twins over to Santa. Maddie instantly screamed, but Haiden looked relaxed in Santa's arms.

Aiden had to stand within Maddie's view to get her to stop crying, and even then, the photographer was lucky to get a good shot. She got one, but barely.

Hope suddenly had an idea. She turned to the photographer. "Since there is no one else in line yet, if I pay for another two sheets, can you get one of us in the picture too? And then one of just my boyfriend and I without Santa?" She smirked at Santa. "No offence, Santa."

"Um, sure. No one else is around, so why not?" the photographer replied.

So, Hope and Aiden sat on the floor in front of Santa, grinning, and holding the twins. After all, Maddie simply would not allow herself to be held by Santa for another second!

Then, after the picture, they put the twins back in their stroller and Santa moved out of the way.

They got a picture of Aiden sitting in Santa's chair with Hope in his lap. He was grinning as he kissed her cheek, and she was laughing while looking at the camera. They they kissed. And after they had paid for the extra photos, they saw that the photographer had given them both poses for the price of one.

Aiden tipped the photographer to thank her.

"Thank you! Merry Christmas!" she said to them.

They both told her Merry Christmas, and then headed to the café to get some dinner before Christmas shopping. They wanted to pick out the babies' first Christmas ornaments, and they also had to shop for Ciara, Shawn, the twins, Casey, Carol, and even Jake. Hope had already bought some things for them, but she had promised she'd help Aiden pick out some things for them as well.

And after a night of shopping, they were all exhausted.

They headed home, got the twins fed one more time, ready for bed, and into bed. And then they got ready for bed themselves and held each other in bed as they prepared for slumber.

"I already have a feeling this is going to be the best Christmas ever," Hope said peacefully as she kissed his bare chest, then rested her head against it.

Aiden gently played with her hair, loving having her in his arms. So many nights he had laid awake lonely without her, absolutely hating the thought of her in bed with another man. Many a nights he had cried over her. Now he took peace in knowing that Lord willing, he'd never have to spend another night without her in his arms, and even if he did, she wouldn't be in the arms of another man. He was so lucky. He kissed her lovingly on the lips. "Goodnight, Baby. I love you more than words can say."

"She kissed him lovingly back, and then snuggled closer to him, loving the feel of his fingers in her hair. "I love you too, my love. So much more than you know, Mr. Jennings." She smiled. " _My_ Mr. Jennings." She felt like the luckiest woman on earth, and she had no doubt that she was, just as Aiden had no doubt that he was the luckiest man on earth.

They both soon fell asleep, feeling the comfort and safely of each other's arms.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

On the sixteenth, Hope woke Aiden up by straddling him and kissing his neck.

His eyes slowly fluttered open, and he smiled big when he saw Hope smiling down at him. "Mm, what a beautiful way to wake up," he murmured, gently stroking her hair.

"Happy Birthday, Mr. Jennings," she purred.

"It's a happy birthday indeed, waking up to my beautiful girlfriend straddling and kissing me," he murmured. He pulled her down and kissed her softly at first, and then more passionately. She sat upward and lifted her arms, allowing him to pull her light pink, lacy silk nightgown off of her. He then pinned her down beneath him, and slowly removed her underwear. She hadn't been wearing a bra underneath, and he wasn't complaining.

She tugged at his bottoms, and helped him slide out of them. He was already shirtless.

He kissed down the side of her neck, his left hand gently massaging her right breast.

"Make love to me, Mr. Jennings," she murmured into his ear.

"With pleasure," he murmured.

"The pleasure is all mine," she said, his face between her hands and her eyes filled with lust.

They then made love, with Aiden in charge, and then Hope made sure to make it so that she was the one on charge and on top of him again.

They made love again, both filled with an unspeakable love and desire for each other that at the moment, neither of them could contain.

Hope threw her head back, and Aiden sat up the best he could, kissing every inch of her neck. He then gently laid her down beneath him again, and kissed her for several moments more until they were both relaxed and happy from their lovemaking.

"Happy birthday to _me_!" Aiden said.

Hope grinned. "So you liked it?" she teased.

"So much I want to do it again," he murmured. "Just not now because even though I just woke up, I don't think I have the energy for another round right now. I'm getting old. And next year I'll be fifty. Shoot me now."

Hope laughed. "You are not old! Besides, I am seven years older than you are, so I will hear none of this 'old' business!"

Aiden grinned. "But _you_ age with beauty and grace."

"And you age with youth and dignity. You do not look almost fifty." She ran her hands through his hair. "You are just as sexy as you were the day I met you, if not more."

"So you found me sexy even though I was a jerk?" Aiden asked, an eyebrow raised.

"I think that made you even sexier," Hope whispered in his ear. "But I love you a lot better when you're not calling me names or saying I'm a bad parent."

Aiden laughed. "You dished out insults of your own, I'll remind you!"

"And you deserved them! I did not!" Hope said simply. "Ciara may have been a brat, yes, but it was nothing I did wrong." She then turned serious, and looked at Aiden. "Don't tell her I said that."

They both laughed.

"Your secret's safe with me," Aiden replied.

"I got you something!" Hope quickly pulled her underwear and nightgown back on, and got out of bed.

"You didn't have to put those back on. I've already seen you naked," Aiden said, amused.

Hope smiled over her shoulder at him. "Close your eyes and cover your ears."

"Why?" Aiden asked her, a smile playing on his lips.

"Just do it!"she ordered with a smirk and a raised eyebrow.

Aiden did as told.

"No peeking!" she warned.

"I'm not!" he insisted.

She then went into the closet and pulled out the gifts she had set aside for his birthday. She then closed the closet doors, and brought the gifts over to the bed, and set them in front of him.

She then removed his hands from his ears. "You can open your eyes now," she purred into his ear. She then kissed it.

Aiden smiled. He looked down at the gifts. "You didn't have to get me anything. You're gift enough for me, as are our twins."

"Just open them! You know you want them," Hope teased.

Aiden grinned at her. "You're right. I do." He then proceeded to open his gifts which included the blue, red, and green sweaters, and three dress shirts. He looked at Hope. "These are all so nice. Thank you!" He rubbed the blue sweater against his cheek. "So soft too!"

"They're cashmere," Hope informed him.

He kissed her. "Three of them? You spoil me. And these dress shirts will go great underneath them." He then picked up the last box. "What's in here?" He gently shook it.

She placed her hand overtop of his to stop him from shaking it. "Be careful. They're fragile."

"Now I'm _really_ curious." He carefully unwrapped the present, and then took off the lid of the box. He gasped when he saw what was inside. It was a frame he had made at eight years old from Popsicle sticks painted green, and written on the bottom was, _Aiden and Carol-best siblings ever._ He had made one for himself and one for Carol. He remembered Carol having had given him the biggest hug she had ever given him when he had given hers to her. She had even cried. In the frame was a picture of him and Carol. He was eight, and Carol was thirteen. The year was written on the back in red sharpie marker. There was also a candy cane ornament Chase had made in the sixth grade that was made of a white and a red pipe cleaner twisted into the form of a candy cane. There was also an ornament that Chase had made at twelve. It was a foam ball that had pins with colored heads stuck in it, leaving every last bit of foam covered with red, green, purple, and blue pinheads, making it looked like it was dipped in sprinkles. Finally, there was a 5x6 photo of him and Carol with their parents that had been taken professionally. He was about thirteen in the picture, and Carol was freshly eighteen.

He looked at her with tears in his eyes. "Where did you find these?"

"I went over to Carol's and she told me that she had everything in storage. She said if I helped her and Chase dig out all the ornaments boxes, I could take a few ornaments for you. I happened to find the family picture in one of the random boxes. Carol said I could have it to give to you," Hope explained.

Aiden started crying then, not out of sadness, but of happiness. "I can't believe you would do this for me. Thank you so much!" He hugged her tightly.

Hope gently wiped away his tears with her thumbs. "Why wouldn't I do it for you? Aiden, I love you. When are you going to start believing that?" she smiled lovingly at him.

"I do, believe me," he said with a sniffle.

"You looked so sad about not having your own ornaments; I just had to find you some." Hope kissed him. "Now come on. No more tears. Let's go shower, and then go out to breakfast—my treat!"

"It's enough of a treat that you're not cooking!" Aiden teased.

Hope gasped, and playfully swatted him. "This is the thanks I get for giving you such nice and thoughtful gifts!" She smiled though.

Aiden got off the bed then, and picked her up. "Let's go take our shower, and I'll show you what thanks you're going to get from me." His eyes were lowered with love and desire for her, leaving no doubt as to what he had in mind.

She lowered her eyes with just as much love and desire for him. "Lead the way, Mr. Jennings," she purred.

They kissed the whole way to the shower.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

The rest of Aiden's birthday consisted of a nice breakfast with the twins and Hope, then work, for he had too many court dates to take the day off. But he and Hope had met up on their lunch breaks and had pizza and Champaign in the hot tub in their room above Aiden's office.

Then, at dinnertime, they all had dinner at a very nice restaurant. It included him. Hope, the twins, Lucas, Chase, Carol, and Casey. He had opened his gifts, and then they had a delicious dinner. For dessert, Hope had bought him a cake, which they had at the restaurant. They had all sung to him, and then he blew out the candles.

"I already got my wish," Aiden said as he looked around at all his loved ones.

They all smiled at him, and Carol hugged him tightly from behind. "I love you, Little brother."

"And I love you, Big sister," he said, tears in his eyes.

Hope then sat in his lap. "And you know I love you!"

"And I love you," Aiden murmured. He then kissed her with all the love he had inside him.

And when they got home, they got the twins to bed, and then made love again, both more in love with the other than ever before.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

"These are so corny," Chase said, holding up an ornament he had made as a child. He and Carol were finally getting to decorate their tree. They had shopped for their ornaments days before, but he had been so busy with Bridgette and his work, they hadn't had the time to put them up until now after Aiden's birthday dinner. Carol had Christmas CD on while they hung the ornaments.

"I think it's adorable!" Carol cooed as she saw the picture of him at five years old smiling cheesily. It was inside a "present" made with cardstock and ribbon. No doubt he had had help from his teacher in making it.

"Remember making this?" Carol held up a blue clay C. "We both made them that one time I babysat you. You were like seven at the time," Carol said.

Chase laughed. "I thought it was the coolest!" He held up a pink clay C. "Here's yours."

They handed each other the ornaments so that they now both held their own.

"Together, we're C and C!" they said together. Then they began singing C&C Music Factory's "Everybody Dance Now", just as they had that day they made them.

They both laughed.

"I can't believe we still remember that," Chase said as they hung their ornaments.

"You know what?" Carol asked.

"What?" Chase asked, an eyebrow raised as they hung some of the ornaments they had bought.

"We should make an ornament for each year now to celebrate our reconnecting. I may not have been the best aunt to you in the past, but I'd love to have a new beginning for us."

Chase smiled. "I'd love that too."

They finished hanging up all the ornaments, and then Chase plugged the tree in. Unlike Hope and Aiden, they had remembered to string it with the colored lights first.

"We forgot the angel," Chase commented. "Or the star. Whatever."

Carol's eyes got wide. "Wal-Mart's open twenty-four seven. Let's go buy one. We can also buy supplies for this year's ornaments!"

Chase laughed. Bridgette was out with a friend that night, so he found no reason why he couldn't. Besides, he was kind of excited to make an ornament with Carol. He had really missed her. He hugged her tightly, throwing her off guard.

Carol hugged him tightly once she got over the surprise. "What is this for?"

"I just love you is all," he said simply.

She had tears in her eyes. "I love you too, Chase. I'm the luckiest aunt in the world!"

Chase nodded. "Yes you are," he confirmed.

She gasped.

He laughed. "Just as I'm the luckiest nephew in the world."

She grinned, and gave him a playful noogie.

Chase then turned the music off, and thy headed out of the condo, laughing, joking, and feeling lucky to have each other.


	71. S3E21

_**This Love…**_

 _ **Season 3 Episode 21: I Just Want You to Love Me**_

It was Christmas Eve. Aiden was excited, yet worried at the same time about going with Hope to the Horton ornament hanging. It was a family event, and he knew how most of her family felt about him. Even Ciara and Shawn, though they had accepted the fact that he was a part of Hope's life again, still weren't his biggest fans. He was supposed to join them all for church afterward as well. At least he knew no one would start a scene in church. Though, in Salem, one never knew.

"Mom, where do you find all these adorable outfits?" Ciara asked. She had gotten into town a couple hours earlier, and had just finished helping Hope put little Christmas elf costumes on the twins. They looked absolutely adorable.

Hope grinned. "I found these at Babies R Us when browsing for their Christmas gifts. I knew I had to have them."

"Well, they make the cutest elves I've ever seen!" Ciara said, carefully picking up both twins at the same time.

"Be careful!" Hope said, worried she would drop them.

Ciara rolled her eyes. "Mom, please. I'm not a moron. I'm not going to not be careful."

"Ciara Alice, watch your tone," Hope gently warned.

"Sorry, sorry," Ciara said, though, she didn't sound a hundred percent sincere. She kissed Haiden's cheek, and then Maddie's. "I can hardly wait until you see what I got you two for Christmas! I hope you like them. Though, I know you're probably going to be the easiest to please at this age. When you get older, you're going to be pickier!"

Maddie gave her a rare smile, and Haiden just gurgled.

Ciara smiled too, and kissed Maddie's cheek again with a loud 'muah' sound. "You're in a happy mood for once!"

Hope smiled. "It's because she had a long nap and now has a fully tummy. I wanted to make sure they were both all rested and fed before we headed over."

"And now you two get to have your own ornaments!" Ciara said, excited. "Your grandma Julie took care of yours, so what they look like is a surprise to mommy, daddy, Shawn, and me too!"

Aiden felt his heart sink a little. He knew it was his own fault for not having proposed to Hope yet. Anyway, he wasn't married to her again yet. He highly doubted that anyone was going to be eager to give him an ornament after what had happened last time. Still, he found himself wishing he had an ornament to hang on the tree tonight with everyone else. He was going to feel awkward just standing there while everyone else hung an ornament. He had always wanted one, but it hadn't been in the cards for him. One year, he and Hope had only just begun to date, and the next two years, he was gone by Christmas both times. Then, he wasn't there at all.

"What's the matter? Why do you suddenly look so glum?" Hope asked, noticing the look on Aiden's face.

Aiden shook his head. "Nothing." He put on a weak smile. "I'm just a little nervous about how I'll be accepted tonight. Your family has good reason not to feel they can trust me, and most of them hate me." He looked down to the floor. "Not that I blame them."

Hope walked over to him and hugged him tightly. "They don't hate you. You've already proven yourself. If they can't see that, then that's their problem—not yours. As I told you once before, I make up my own mind about people and that includes you."

Aiden smiled at her, and gently stroked her hair. "I'm so lucky to have you."

"And I'm so lucky to have _you_ ," Hope said to him. She kissed him lovingly on the lips, and then headed to the closet to grab the twins' coats. "Now let's get going so that we have time to get something to eat for dinner quick before Jennifer's."

Aiden nodded, then went to help her and Ciara with the twins.

"For the record, I don't hate you either. I may not be your number one fan like I used to be, but keep treating my mom right and I'll get there. Eventually," Ciara said to him.

Aiden grinned at her. "Good to know!"

She grinned back.

 _ **~*came back to me*~**_

Of course everyone cooed over the babies when they arrived at Jennifer's house.

"I swear they just keep getting cuter and cuter with every time I see them!" Jennifer said, crouching down to see them as they sat in their little baby carriers on the floor. They were both grasping straps made out of felt with little jingle bells attached to them.

"It's because they look just like their mommy," Aiden said to her.

Jennifer smiled. "I don't know. I think Haiden looks a lot like his daddy!"

Aiden was surprised to hear her say that. Though she had liked him a lot at one time, once his lies had almost gotten Hope killed via his doppelganger, her opinion of him had vastly changed. Of course, as with anyone else who didn't like him anymore because of that, he couldn't blame them.

"Really?" he asked.

Jennifer nodded. "For sure! He has your eyes, your nose, and your hair. Well your hair color anyway." She turned her attention to Haiden, and gently stroked the few wisps of hair he had. "It will be a little while before you get as much hair as your daddy, huh?" she asked Haiden in a baby voice.

Haiden jingled his bells in response, and Jennifer laughed.

"All right, Mom, let's get this ornament thing started!" JJ called out.

"So impatient!" Jennifer said, standing up and heading over to him. She went over to her CD player and pressed play. "Let's get some Christmas music going to set the mood."

"Silver Bells" quietly began to play. It was loud enough to hear, but not so loud as to not be able to hear each other speak.

A few of the family members that were either passed on or unable to attend already had their ornaments hanging on the tree.

Maggie and Victor were first up to hang some of the ornaments yet to be hung.

Maggie hung Alice and Tom's ornaments, and Victor hung his own. Maggie then hung Mickey's and her own ornament.

Jennifer was up next. She hung her own, and then hung Jack's.

JJ hung his own ornament; tears in his eyes from seeing Jennifer hang Jack's ornament. It didn't matter how many years went by. He still missed his father so much it hurt!

Next up were Abigail and Chad. Even little Thomas was now old enough to hang his own, though Chad had to hold him up to do so.

Doug hung his and Addie's, and Julie hung hers. Then, they smiled at each other and kissed.

Hope was up next. She hung her ornament near her parents' and Julie's, and then, with tears in her eyes, she hung Bo's ornament, and then Zack's.

Ciara placed a comforting hand over her back, and then hung her own ornament.

Shawn-Douglas, Belle, and Claire hung theirs then. Belle and Shawn were no longer together, but they were still friends, and spent the major holidays together as a family with Claire for Claire's sake.

With a smile, Hope and Aiden then hung their twins' brand new ornaments. Aiden hung Maddie's. Her ornament was green with her name written in red glitter. It had a cute gingerbread woman on it with a red bow on her head. Haiden's was red with his name written in green glitter. His had a smiling gingerbread man on it.

Aiden felt a little sad that Chase didn't have his ornament on the tree anymore. Though, he understood why. He wondered if they had smashed it, kept it, or trashed it. He was assuming a Horton had smashed it, and then trashed it—possibly even Hope or Ciara had.

Sami was in California with her younger kids, so her ornament was already up. Lucas hung his ornament next to hers out of habit.

Will came up and hung his near his parents', and Arianna hung hers next to her father's. Sonny hung his on the other side of Will's.

Once all the ornaments were hung, Doug switched the lights on.

Everyone cheered as the tree lit up, looking beautiful in all its colored light and family ornaments beauty.

Doug then began to sing "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas", and Julie joined him.

Everyone else just sat back and enjoyed it, their arms around their loved ones.

Once Doug and Julie had finished singing, they exchanged goodbyes with everyone, and then headed to the children's hospital before church. This year Doug was going to play Santa and read the Christmas story. Julie would of course be playing Mrs. Clause.

Everyone else spent time chatting and enjoying Christmas cookies.

A half hour later, Hope took Aiden's hand and gently led him out to the foyer. She picked up a little wrapped box along the way that she had set on the coffee table. It was the most important present she had chosen for him, only she wanted him to open it before Christmas.

"Here." She handed it to him with a smile. "Merry Christmas early."

"What is it?" he asked.

She rolled her eyes. "Why does everyone always ask that when given a gift? It's wrapped for a reason. Just open it and find out!" she teased with a grin.

Aiden smirked at her. "All right, all right!" He pulled at the red bow, and then carefully opened the red, silver, and green metallic striped white paper. There was a green box. He took of the lid, and his mouth dropped open when he saw what lie within. It was a Horton ornament with his name on it.

He took it out and admired it. It was a light blue ornament with white glitter snow flakes all over it. His name was written on it in metallic green and his name was outlined in white glitter. It had holly berries and leaves on each side of his name.

"I know we're not even engaged yet, let alone married, but we will be soon. At least, I hope so, and I didn't want to wait." She smiled at him and gently stroked his cheek with the back of her hand. "I just felt you could really use this this year."

Aiden was so touched his eyes started to dampen. "I love it," he managed to choke out. "Thank you so much!"

Hope grinned brightly. "I want you to know how serious I am about you. I love you, Mr. Jennings, and married or not, I want you as part of my life forever."

He put it back in the box, and then set it next to the lamp on the lamp stand. Finally, he pulled her into a passionate and loving kiss.

Hope hungrily kissed him back, and then broke the kiss and grinned. "There's something strangely familiar about this moment, isn't there?" She nodded upward toward the mistletoe hanging above them.

Aiden grinned; remembering. "We kissed under the mistletoe in this exact spot our first and only Christmas together beside tonight."

Hope nodded. "And Ciara bet Chase that we wouldn't be able to go without kissing…or something like that."

"She bet that I would kiss you under the mistletoe. She suckered him so badly! She even got Doug in on it!" Aiden said with a grin.

"But in all fairness to Daddy, he didn't know about their little bet," Hope said, draping her arms over his shoulders.

Aiden's eyes lowered with love for her. "I felt so awkward kissing you in front of your father, but as I said back then, I'll say it again because it's true. I would go through a thousand awkward moments just to give you a little kiss. Was it awkward for you?"

Hope shook her head. "And I'm going to give you the same answer I gave you back then. "I forgot he was even there."

"Oh," Aiden said right before pulling her in for another kiss, and knowing he would have kissed her with our without the mistletoe, both in 2014, and now.

As Hope hungrily kissed him back, she was thinking the same thing about herself kissing him.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

"Hey, Chase, do you like this cookie?" Bridgette asked. She and Chase were in the kitchen making Christmas cookies while Carol helped Casey with some last minute Christmas shopping.

Chase looked and saw that she had two big, round sugar cookies with stemless red maraschino cherries in the center, therefore making the cookies look like breasts.

Chase smirked. "They're a little flat, but they still look good."

Bridgette laughed.

Chase then molded three cookie dough sections so that two were rounded balls, and the one between them was snakelike.

Bridgette raised an eyebrow. "Is that how small yours is?"

Chase picked up the longer cookie dough section and tossed it at her. "Shut up!" he said with a laugh. "It will get bigger once it's in the oven."

Bridgette gasped, and threw the dough back at him. "When it gets nice and hot, right?" she purred, now turning serious. She got closer to him.

Chase licked his lip, barely noticing as the dough fell from where it had stuck to his shoulder down to the floor. "Exactly."

They kissed.

Bridgette then smiled, and leaned down and picked up the dough from the floor. "Carol will kill us if we mess up her kitchen."

"It's mine too," Chase reminded her. He took the dough from her hand and put it back on the pan for baking.

Bridgette made a face. "That has been in my hair, on your shoulder, and now on the floor. You're not seriously planning on still using that, are you?"

Chase shrugged. "I hate to see any dough go to waste. Besides, we can turn it into a C for Carol. He bent the snake like so so that it was now in a C shape. "We can tell Carol we made one special for her." Chase grinned at her.

"You're so bad!" Bridgette said with a smile. She took a fork and made the two balls into the traditional pattern for peanut butter cookies since Chase's dough was peanut butter cookie dough.

Chase shrugged. "What Aunt Carol doesn't know won't hurt her. Besides, there's no hair on it, and the germs will bake off in the oven. Aunt Carol keeps a clean floor anyway."

"Remind me never to eat anything you give me that I didn't see the whole time since you acquired it," Bridgette teased.

Chase grinned.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

"Wow, that's some gift!" Casey quipped as Carol came out of the Apple store with the newest Mac book. She had even bought a special case for it.

Carol smiled at him. "Chase really wants one. He's been saving up for one, but he hasn't been able to save up enough yet since he pays rent. I figured this would be something nice I can do for him. His other laptop is in horrible shape."

"Well, he's lucky to have you as an aunt!" Casey quipped.

Carol sighed. "He wasn't always. I just wanna make up to him for all the years I was a crappy aunt to him."

"Well, laptop or no laptop, you're making up for it now. He seems much happier now that he's living with you," Casey noted.

"I sure hope so," Carol replied with a far away look in her eyes. "After the holidays he has to testify at Jeremiah's trial. I just hope it's not too much for him."

"Well, we'll all be here for him. He's not alone anymore," Casey reasoned.

Carol smiled at him. "No, he's not," she agreed. She then nodded at his arms. "And talk about _me_ going overboard! A giant raw hide, a practically king-sized dog bed, five squeaky toys, and two different bungee bones? I swear Jake is the most spoiled doggy in town!"

Casey grinned. "We're not done yet. After we drop these in the car, I have to go back and buy his stocking stuffers."

Carol raised an eyebrow at him. "Stocking stuffers? Are you kidding me? For a dog?"

Casey looked at her, a serious expression on his face. "Jake is not just a dog to me, Carol. He is my baby. He was there for me in some of my darkest moments. He kept me from being lonely and depressed. I know it may sound silly to you, but in some ways, he's also my best friend. Dog or not, he means more to me than you could ever know."

Carol smiled sincerely. She then took his hand and gently squeezed it. "If he means that much to you, then he means that much to me. Why don't we buy him those adorable doggy pajamas and that doggy teddy bear too? There's also that doggy pillow that looks more comfortable than a human pillow. And we can also get him a big bag of his favorite food along with his favorite treats. I'll chip in."

Casey's eyes lit up as he looked at her. "Really?"

Carol laughed. He was so excited. "Of course! We can spoil him. After all, he's partly my baby too now in a way." She winked at him and smiled.

"I love you so much!" Casey kissed her passionately.

Carol hungrily kissed him back. "I love you too…More than you know." She really was falling for him harder than she had ever fallen for anyone. She grinned. "Now let's go get these in the car. This laptop is heavy!"

Casey laughed. "Okay, let's go." He kissed her quickly on the cheek, and then they headed to his car to try to fit everything they had just bought in the car all the while leaving room for more.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

"Are you sure you don't want to put your ornament on the Horton tree?" Hope asked Aiden as they prepared to go to the church for midnight mass.

Aiden nodded. "It wouldn't be right. I'm not married to you yet. We'll keep it on our home tree for now, and next year I'll put it on the Horton tree with the others."

Hope smiled. "So does this mean you'll be proposing to me soon?"

"You're just going to have to wait and see," Aiden said to her in a teasing manner.

"I'll just have to wait and see, huh?" Hope teased back.

"Uh, huh!" Aiden said.

Hope moaned, and pulled him in for a kiss, which he hungrily returned.

"Ugh! Get a room, you two. We're on our way to church. Do you think you two could pry yourselves away from each other for two seconds?" Ciara asked, still sounding very much like a teenager. She rolled her eyes, but a slight smile at the corner of her lips showed that she didn't mean it as harsh as she sounded.

Hope rolled her eyes right back at her. "Cool it!" she teased.

Aiden smiled as he helped Hope with her coat. He then put his own coat on. The babies were already bundled up in their coats and boots.

After getting their own boots on, Hope and Aiden held hands and headed out the door. It was time for church!

 _ **~*came back to me*~**_

"Thank you for this," Bridgette said to Chase as she cuddled with him under a blanket on the love seat. They were eating pizza, breadsticks, Christmas cookies, and candy canes while watching _It's a Wonderful Life_. They had it on pause because Casey was out taking Jake for a potty break, and Carol was in the bathroom taking a potty break of her own.

"It's no big deal," Chase said.

Bridgette placed a hand on his shoulder and looked him in the eyes. "But it is to me. My stepdad isn't much of a holiday celebrate, and my mother just goes along with whatever he wants or doesn't want. I love the holidays. My dad used to love them too. But now that he died, that's all over. If it weren't for you, I'd be feeling miserable and alone today."

Chase suddenly felt terrible for her. "I'm happy to share this day with you. Tomorrow as well! You make it better for me too. Everyone else in my family is happily paired off. I'd have still felt all alone without you."

Bridgette smiled at him and kissed his cheek. She squeezed his hand. "I still have to make an appearance at my mom's place tomorrow for my mom's sake. But after that, I'm all yours!"

Chase smiled. "I like the sound of that!" They kissed, both happy that the club was closed both days to allow the dancers to spend time with their families.

Carol came out of the bathroom then. "Anyone want a refill of soda?" she asked, going to the island and pouring herself another glass.

"I'll have some milk please if you have any," Bridgette requested.

"Me too, please!" Chase asked.

Carol went into the fridge and took out the milk. She then poured them each a glass, and decided to pour herself one as well. She walked over and gave them their glasses. They thanked her.

She then walked back to the island and took her C cookie. They had decorated it with red and white stripes like a candy cane and covered it with red sugar crystals. She took a bite and closed her eyes. "Mm! These cookies are so good. Thank you for making me my own special one, Chasey…" She smiled at Chase, who almost choked on his cookie.

Chase quickly took a drink to help wash it down, then smiled and nodded at Carol. "Anything for you, Aunt Carol."

Carol smiled, and put a hand to her heart. "Aw! You're so sweet." She then headed to sit back down on the couch.

Bridgette subtly elbowed Chase.

Chase smirked.

Casey came in with Jake then, who shook the snow from his fur.

"Hey, hey, hey, be careful! I'm not even supposed to have a dog up here to begin with," Carol said to Jake. She then grinned. "But you know what? Come join us on the couch. I can always vacuum up your hairs."

Casey smiled big, and jumped onto the couch with her. He had just enough time to kiss her cheek before Jake jumped up between them.

They then turned the movie back on, and all enjoyed a nice Christmas Eve night together as an unofficial family.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

Aiden opened his eyes and smiled when he saw Hope smiling down at him. "Merry Christmas, my Love."

"Merry Christmas, Baby."

They kissed. After a wonderful church service the night before, they had come home, changed the sleeping twins, and put them to bed. Then, they had changed for bed themselves, and went straight to sleep. They had both been so tired.

"It's nice that the twins are too young to want to get up super early on Christmas morning to see their toys. This way we can enjoy the morning just the two of us, even if only for a moment," Aiden said, pulling her closer to him.

Hope smiled contently as she rested in his arms, her head on his chest. "It's a white Christmas too. It's perfect."

"So what time are Ciara, Shawn, Belle, and Claire coming over?" Aiden asked.

Hope yawned. "Sometime around eleven. They're bringing stuff over for a Christmas brunch." She grinned up at him. "Belle's a much better cook than I am."

"Who isn't?" Aiden quipped.

Hope playfully swatted him stomach. "Rude."

"But you're much better at other things," Aiden murmured, getting a hungry look in his eyes.

She raised an eyebrow at him. "Oh? What kind of things, Mr. Jennings?" she purred, though the fact that she had the same hungry look in her eyes that Aiden did told him she knew exactly what he was referring to.

"Let me show you," he murmured.

She moaned as he pinned her down beneath him, kissing her passionately as his hands started to roam her body.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

Chase wished Bridgette had allowed him to come with her to see her mother and step father, but she had wanted to wait for him to meet her parents. He decided to respect her wishes. He was glad he had, for shortly after she had left, he had gotten an unexpected, yet welcomed call from Ciara, who invited him to come spend Christmas with the family. Aiden had planned on getting together separately at dinnertime with Chase and Carol, but Ciara knew it would mean a lot to everyone if they could all spend it together.

So now, here he was at Hope's doorstep. He was nervous as he knocked.

A moment later, Hope opened the door. She smiled politely at him. "Hello, Chase. Merry Christmas!"

"Merry Christmas, Hope. Ciara called me and said that I could come over to spend Christmas with you all," Chase explained. "If you'd rather I not, I can go back to my condo. I'll understand."

Hope shook her head. "No, no. If Ciara is okay with it, then so am I. She already called to ask my permission first."

"I know you're not doing it for me, but more for my father. Still… Thank you," Chase said sincerely.

Hope nodded. "You're welcome. Come in before you catch cold." She stepped back.

Chase walked in.

"Coming through!" Carol said, barging through before Hope could close the door. Her arms were laden with presents. "Merry Christmas, Hope!"

Hope smiled. "Merry Christmas, Carol!"

"Merry Christmas, Hope!" Casey said, kissing her cheek and coming in with presents in his arms as well.

"Merry Christmas, Casey."

Jake barked as he came in carrying a bungee bone in his mouth. It fell out.

Hope laughed, and picked it up before handing it back to him. "Merry Christmas to you too, Jake."

She shut the door behind them all.

Ciara, Shawn, Belle, and Claire, were already there, playing with the twins. Shawn and Belle were on the couch, the twins were on the coffee table in their carriers, and Ciara and Claire were on the floor on the other side of the coffee table.

Chase walked right up to Ciara, and held out his hand to her. "Merry Christmas, Ciara. Thank you so much for allowing me to be here today."

Ciara stood up and shook his hand. "Merry Christmas, Chase. You're welcome. I knew it would mean a lot to both you and your dad. I'm trying this new thing where I learn to forgive. Not forgiving just tears me up too much inside, and I feel that I need to forgive in order to heal."

Chase nodded. "I feel like I just got my Christmas miracle."

Ciara then surprised them all by hugging him. "Maybe you did," she said.  
I can finally honestly say that I forgive you for what you did to me, Chase. I know you're no longer that person, and that you're trying to better yourself. I respect you for that."

Chase looked like he was about to cry; only this time they were good tears.

"Thank you," he whispered.

Before Ciara could reply, Aiden came out of the kitchen. "Did I hear…?" He trailed off when he saw Chase. "I did! What are you guys doing here?"

"Ciara was kind enough to invite us—to invite me—since she knew how much it would mean to both of us," Chase responded. "She forgives me, Dad." Chase burst into tears. "She finally forgives me!"

Aiden ran to his son and embraced him, and they cried together.

Hope had tears in her eyes, as did Carol. Even Ciara had tears in her eyes.

Aiden then turned to Ciara and gave her the biggest hug he could muster. "Thank you so much for this, Ciara. You have no idea how much this means to my son. How much it means to both of us."

Ciara nodded, and wiped her eyes. "Yeah, well, let's not get all mushy about it. It was the right thing to do."

"Still, thank you," Aiden said to her.

She nodded, and gave him a smile. "You're welcome."

"Group hug!" Aiden then called out.

"You're so cheesy," Shawn said. But he was smiling big, and they all joined in on a group hug. It was incredibly cheesy, as Shawn had said, but it was Christmas, so they let it slide just this once.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

Sadly, where Bridgette was, things weren't quite as cheesy.

"Merry Christmas Hank. I got you a present." Bridgette handed a present to her stepfather, who was watching the game on television and drinking a beer in the recliner.

He grunted, but didn't wish her a Merry Christmas. He barely looked at her as he opened the gift. "What the hell is this?" he asked with another grunt.

Bridgette blushed. "It's an ashtray made out of an old Rolling Stones record. I figured since you smoke so much, you'd need a good ashtray. This one is unique and cool, plus I know The Rolling Stones are your favorite band."

"I can smoke as much as I damn well want!" he snapped.

"I'm not saying you can't. In fact, it's quite the opposite. I'm giving you something so you can smoke as much as you want," Bridgette said carefully.

"It's ugly! It looks like a flower. I aint no queer. I don't need anything girly," he snapped.

"But it's not girly! It's just a melted record. It melted that way so as to keep all the ash in," Bridgette explained, referring to the wavy bowl pattern.

"Well, the joke's on you because I don't like The Rolling Stones. In fact, I hate them. It's the Grateful Dead I love." He set his beer down on the lamp stand beside him, and then broke the record ashtray with his two hands. He then tossed the pieces one at a time across the room toward the trashcan. "Slam dunk!" he said with a laugh as they fell into the trashcan piece-by-piece. He then turned to her. "You wanna give me something I'll really like, why don't you give me one of your private shows, if you know what I mean?" He reached out and grabbed her right breasts.

She quickly stepped back. "What the hell do you think you're doing? You have no right to touch me like that! Besdies, you're married to my mom!"

He shrugged, and took a sip of his beer. "She doesn't have to know."

"You make me sick, you sick son of a bitch!" she snapped.

He got up from the recliner like lightning. "Don't you _ever_ talk to me like that!" He smacked her across the face, striking as quickly as a viper.

Bridgette touched her cheek, her mouth open in shock. "I can't believe you just did that." Actually, she could. He was a mean son of a bitch—especially when he'd been drinking.

"What is all the racket down here?" her mother asked, coming down the stairs then. She had been in the shower, and now only had a bathrobe on and a towel on her head.

"Mom, he just tried to grope me! When I told him off for it, he smacked me!" Bridgette exclaimed.

"She was mouthing off to me. I didn't try to grope her. I was trying to hug her, and she called me sick," Hank lied.

"Bridgette, I really wish you'd learn to respect your stepdad. Like it or not, he's part of our family now," her mother said gently.

Bridgette shook her head. "Unbelievable! I can't believe you're sticking up for him! You were never this weak when Dad was alive."

"Woman, are you asking for another smack?" Hank asked, looking like he was going to get off of his recliner again.

Bridgette's mother looked at him with a worried expression, but didn't tell him not to threaten her daughter.

"Bridgette, maybe you should just go if you're going to treat us with so little respect," her mother said gently. "You're upsetting your father.

Bridgette had tears in her eyes. "With pleasure! And he's not my father. He will never be my father." She picked up the wrapped cashmere sweater she had gotten for her mother from the coffee table and tossed it at her mother, who caught it. "Merry Christmas, Mother. Or should I say, not so Merry Christmas? It's been real." Then, without another word to either of them or even a look back, she headed to the door, swung it open, and then left, slamming the door hard behind her.

She spent a moment in her car crying, and then she wiped her eyes, blew her nose, and headed for home. At least she would be spending time with Chase later, she knew. After all, he was the only one who seemed to care about her at the moment.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

Shawn and Belle had left, as had Claire, Carol, Casey, Chase, and Jake, but Ciara stayed back for a moment.

"Thanks for all the gifts, Mom. I love all the new clothes. You actually have great taste."

Hope raised an eyebrow. "And that surprises you?"

"A little!" Ciara said honestly. "I thought you'd pick out old people's clothes."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence!" Hope teased.

Ciara turned to Aiden. "Thank you for the perfume. It's really expensive for one ounce, let alone three. You didn't have to get me one that big."

"I was happy to. You deserve it," Aiden said truthfully to her.

Ciara raised an eyebrow. "Plus you're trying to get on my good side."

Aiden nodded. "That too!"

Ciara smirked. "At least you've learned to be honest."

"I love my new coat. It's beautiful. Thank you," Hope said to her. Ciara had gotten her a ruby red pea coat with black faux fur that looked real.

"You're welcome!" Ciara said to her.

"And thanks for my cuff links. They are very nice. I'll wear them often," Aiden said to her.

"Don't mention it. I have one last gift for you. Don't get all emotional over it," Ciara warned.

"Okay," Aiden said.

Ciara handed him a small wrapped box.

"You have me curious now," he said as he slowly opened it. He instantly got teary eyed when he saw a picture of him and Hope—the one of them sitting on Santa's chair with Hope in Aiden's lap, laughing as he kissed her cheek. It was in a heart-shaped ornament frame.

"Mom said you were feeling a little left out on the tree. I know how much you love mom, so I made sure she got me a good picture of you two for me to make into an ornament. I made that one out of clay. I even scratched the year into the back of it," Ciara explained.

Aiden turned it around and saw not only the date, but _True_ _Love Always Comes Back_ scratched into the ornament as well.

He hung it on the tree, then walked over to her and hugged her without a word for a moment. He had to regain his composure before speaking. Finally, he released her and looked her in the eyes. "This was the best present you could have ever given me. Thank you."

Ciara smirked. "Had I known that, I wouldn't have bothered with the cuff links!"

They all laughed.

"Well, I better be going. I promised Theo I'd stop by to say hello," Ciara said.

Hope hugged her. "Merry Christmas, Baby. I love you. I'll see you soon, okay?"

Ciara hugged her back. "Merry Christmas, Mom. See you soon. I love you too."

Aiden and Ciara hugged goodbye, and then Ciara left.

"Thank you for all my gifts, Baby. You spoil me too much," Aiden said as he hugged Hope.

"And _you_ spoil _me_ too much, so we're even," Hope said.

"It's my job to spoil the woman I love," Aiden said to her.

Her eyes lowered with love for him and they kissed.

"I'm so happy Ciara was able to forgive Chase, and that she is finally warming up to you! I was so excited when she asked me for a picture to make an ornament with!" Hope said happily.

Aiden held her tightly. "Trust me, me too. This is honestly the best Christmas yet! On a side note, the twins loved their stuffed animals and toys. At least, I think they did. I'm looking forward to when they can actually show more emotions," Aiden said to her.

Hope smiled. "Next year, my Love."

They kissed some more. "Maybe we could head to the bedroom as a continuation of this morning?" Aiden then asked.

Before Hope could respond, the twins woke from their nap upstairs. One started crying, and woke the other.

"Hold that thought!" Hope said with a grin.

Aiden grinned too. "You're worth the wait!"

Hope sighed happily. "As are you."

"Merry Christmas, Baby," Aiden said to her.

"Merry Christmas, Mr. Jennings," Hope replied.

They kissed once more, and then headed upstairs to take care of their babies on that perfect Christmas day.


	72. S3E22

_**This Love…**_

 _ **Season 3 Episode 22: Setting Sun**_

"Well, that's the last of it!" Aiden said as they moved the last box of Christmas decor to the attic. "It seems like just yesterday we were putting the tree up." The tree had been dropped at the dump earlier that day.

"I know. Time goes so fast." Hope pulled him closer. "And now we get to start off a new year together." It was New Year's Eve Eve, and they were excited to be spending the New Year at a huge Salem New Year's Eve party at Club Excess.

"I will love ringing in the new year with you, and getting my new year's kiss!" Aiden said, pulling her closer yet.

"And maybe ringing it in with a ring for me?" Hope asked. She had really thought he was going to propose on Christmas Eve or Christmas, but alas, he hadn't. Surely New Year's Eve had to be the proposal. At the stroke of midnight perhaps?

"I wouldn't get my hopes up. It's not time yet," Aiden disappointed her.

Hope pouted. "I thought you were eager to marry me. You wanted to marry me over a year ago. Why the sudden hesitation? Have you changed your mind?"

Aiden shook his head. "Of course not! I just feel that we should wait just a little while longer."

Hope couldn't help but find herself a little miffed, but at the same time, she didn't want to be unreasonable. If he wasn't ready to propose again yet, then she would wait. After all, pushing him before he was ready could be disastrous. She knew it was important that they took their time this time, no matter how frustrating it had been. Rushing into things had been part of their downfall the last time, and she was not eager to repeat history when it came to that.

"Don't worry. We'll get there." Aiden pulled her close and kissed her.

Hope lovingly kissed him back, hoping he was right.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

"Gloria!" Carol held her arms out as she saw her friend emerge from baggage claim.

"Carol!" Gloria dropped her suitcase and ran to Carol to embrace her.

Carol had been so excited when she had heard that her best friend from high school was coming for a visit. They hadn't seen each other in years, but they had kept in contact through phone calls and email. Gloria had been just as wild as Carol had been, if not more wild. She was now divorced from her fifth husband. None of her marriages had lasted for more than three years. She had a son, but he was currently in med school.

They embraced tightly.

"I'm so glad you could come for the New Year!" Carol said to her.

Gloria grinned. "Me too. So, what are we going to do for fun?"

"Well, Club Excess, which is the most popular club in Salem, has a big New Year's Eve bash I thought we'd go to," Carol said to her.

Gloria made a face. "Been there, done that—at other clubs I mean." She picked up her bag from the floor, and then headed out of the airport with Carol. "Anything more exciting?"

Carol thought about it for a moment. Having been so wild in high school, and knowing how wild Gloria was, she didn't want to dissapoint her. After all, she had a reputation to maintain. "Well, there is a strip club I recently found out about it. My nephew's girlfriend is a stripper there."

Gloria smirked. "Sorry, I'm not into women. I experimented with one once, but it only made me appreciate men all the more."

Carol playfully swatted her. "They have men too, you moron! If I'm remembering correctly, the men have an hour show from 10:30 to 11:30. The women's show is earlier, from nine to ten. They switch dancers within that half hour gap in between. There is a back room that will be set up as a party room. There will be appetizers; snacks, drinks, and a huge big screen television to watch the ball drop at Times Square at midnight. The men will wait in the party room while the women watch the male dancers strip, and then the women will join them in the party room after the male dancers are done. Limited tickets are sold, but I can see if there are any left."

Gloria's eyes lit up. "Sounds like a blast! Call, call!"

Carol laughed. "I knew you'd be up for something like that! As soon as we get in the car, I'll call."

Once they had made it back to Carol's car, and Gloria's suitcase was safely sitting on the back seat, they both got into the car, and Carol looked up the number on her phone and called.

"We're in luck! We got the last two spots!" she said excitedly as she hung up the phone. "We don't need a ticket. We'll be on the list. All we'll need is our IDs to prove we are who we say we are." She winked at Gloria.

Gloria clapped her hands together with excitement. "Awesome! I hope it's a completely nude strip club."

Carol laughed. "Sorry to dissapoint you, but I think they keep their Speedos on."

Gloria pouted. "Oh well. I guess a nice big bulge is the next best thing."

Carol gasped. "You have no shame!"

"I never did," Gloria said simply.

Carol laughed again. "No, I suppose you didn't." She started up the car and they left the airport.

"I can hardly wait to meet your nephew," Gloria said to her. "That's hard to imagine—you having a nephew. Little Aiden was hardly old enough to be a father the last time I saw him. He was only in Jr. High!"

Carol grinned. "I know, right? It makes me feel so old." She then thought of something. "Please don't tell Chase or anyone else for that matter that we're going to a strip club. I know his girlfriend works there, but I'm kind of embarrassed to admit to my nephew that I'm going to see the male dancers dance." She blushed at the thought of telling him.

Gloria laughed. "He's got to know you have a libido just like any one else!"

"I know, but…It's just awkward with my nephew." She quickly glanced at Gloria. "Please don't tell him!"

Gloria smirked, and made a motion as if zipping her lips. "My lips are sealed."

Carol sighed with relief. "Don't tell my brother either!"

"I won't, I won't! Relax!" Gloria then raised an eyebrow. "But what about this boyfriend of yours. Casey is it?"

Carol blushed. "He's currently away on a construction project in Mississippi. They needed the extra men. Not every one was willing to work over the New Year, but he was. So, since he's currently out of town, he never even has to know about this."

Gloria grinned. "I like the way you think! By the way, since there is no full nudity, I at least want to pay the extra for a private dance. They do those, right?"

Carol smirked. "I don't know, but I guess we'll find out!"

"Good. Because I want to see some sexy ass man grinding up against my hungry body. Who knows? Maybe I'll even get one to come back to the hotel with me. Do you think?" Gloria asked her.

Carol laughed. She could see that Gloria hadn't changed from their high school days, and she loved her for it! "You never know," she said with a smile.

Gloria smiled too; seemingly appeased with her answer.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

"Are you ready for your big show tonight?" Bridgette asked Chase happily as they had dinner together at Pete's Pizza that night.

Chase shrugged. "I guess so, but I'm a little nervous. I end the show."

"That's a great honor! You'll be the freshest on all the ladies' minds come the end because you'll be the last one they saw!" Bridgette said before taking a sip of her Coke.

"That's what I'm afraid of," Chase said. He looked at her in all seriousness. "What if I screw up somehow? They're always going to remember it. I'll ruin the whole show and be fired on the spot!"

Bridgette laughed, and placed her hand overtop of his. "Will you relax and stop being so paranoid? Nothing is going to go wrong. You've been practicing and practicing for almost a month now. You have it down. What could possibly go wrong?"

Chase paled. "That is an anvil for something going wrong. I think you may have just jinxed me."

Bridgette rolled her eyes. "Oh please! You're going to be fine. You're going to do so amazing that the ladies are all going to keep coming back just to see you. In no time, I bet you'll end up being a starter," Bridgette said before taking a bite of her pineapple and ham pizza.

"Which I think is even more terrifying than being an ender!" Chase said.

"Oh, stop! You're going to do so well that it's going to make me jealous seeing all the women after you," Bridgette insisted.

This brought a smile to Chase's face. "You'll be jealous, huh?"

Bridgette nodded."Oh very! Don't _you_ get jealous over the men looking at _my_ body?"

Chase thought about it for a moment, and then nodded. "I suppose so. But I know it comes with the territory. Besides, I know I have absolutely nothing to worry about. You'd never go home with one of those sleazy men!"

Bridgette nodded. "You've got that right! And, in all honesty, I know you'd never go home with any of those perverted women." She grinned. "I just don't like anyone seeing your body but me."

"Well, you're the only one who has full access to it. Trust me," Chase said to her.

"Not yet I haven't, but I hope to soon," Bridgette said simply.

Chase nearly choked on the bite of pepperoni pizza he had just taken. He swallowed it and took a drink of his Coke before answering. "Soon," he promised.

They smiled at each other.

"You're worth the wait," Bridgette said to him.

"As are you," Chase said simply.

She leaned across the table to give him a quick peck on the lips, and then they went back to eating their pizza and wings.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

"I feel bad for leaving the twins. Lucas has a right to celebrate the New Year with friends," Hope said as they danced together at the club.

"Lucas insisted he's fine. Kate is spending New Years with Andre, and he doesn't want to be around Andre. He doesn't have a girlfriend, so it's not like he has anyone to celebrate with anyway. Well, besides us, but he insisted on watching the twins for us, so…" Aiden trailed off.

"I think he didn't want to be around all the kissing couples. We should find him a new girlfriend in the new year," Hope reasoned.

Aiden nodded. "Sounds like the perfect plan. But tonight all I want to do is concentrate on you." He pulled her closer. "So what do you want in the new year? Hm?"

"You know what I want. I want to be married to you," Hope said.

"Besides that," Aiden said gently.

"I want continued health for the twins and us. And of course for the rest of our families." Hope thought about it. "That's all I could really ask for. What about you?"

"All the same things as you," Aiden admitted. "But I'd also like our own home. The house you have now belonged to you and Bo. It's also where you and Rafe spent a lot of your time together. I really want a place that is just ours," he confessed.

Hope thought about it for a moment. "We could do that." She gently stroked his hair, her arms resting over his shoulders.

"Really?" Aiden asked in surprise. "I thought for sure you'd say no. I'm sure the house must mean a lot to you, it having been yours with Bo."

Hope nodded. "It does," she said honestly. "But Shawn has mentioned lately that he is sick of living in an apartment. He wants his own place. I'm sure he'd have no problem with me signing the deed over to him. I don't even think I'd charge him. After all, he would have inherited it after I die anyway. It's his house as much as it is mine as far as I'm concerned. All he'll have to do is pay the bills now. The mortgage is long since paid off."

"Sounds great! But please don't mention your dying, Baby. I don't ever want to think about you dying." Aiden pulled her close and gently nuzzled her neck with his nose.

She smiled. "Don't worry. Lord willing, that day won't be for many years yet."

They kissed. Aiden rested his forehead against hers. "So are you sure? In the new year we can look for a place?"

Hope nodded. "But only once you propose," she said, his face between her hands.

"Deal!" he agreed with a grin.

Hope raised an eyebrow. "So, tonight…"

"Won't be the night," Aiden finished for her. He gently stroked her hair at the look of disappointment on her face. "But soon, Baby. Very soon, I promise."

Hope nodded. "All right." They then kissed again before heading off the dance floor to find a table and get some dinner.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

"I love you too, Honey. I'll call you at midnight," Carol promised Casey over the phone.

They said their goodbyes, and then Carol examined herself in the mirror. She put on one final coat of Ravishing Red lipstick, and was satisfied with her look. She was wearing a red sequined spaghetti strap dress with nude tights and red sparkly heals. Her nails were painted red to match. Her hair was up in a French twist.

She spritzed on her Victoria's Secret Angel perfume, grabbed her mirrored purse, and then in a cab, headed over to pick up Gloria, whom she saw, when she arrived at Gloria's hotel room, was wearing a sequined dress as well. Only Gloria's was leopard print and strapless. She wore black stockings and black patent leather pumps. Her hair was in a French twist as well.

Carol smirked. "French twists and sequins—great minds think alike!"

Gloria chuckled, and put on her black faux fur coat. "Sequins are a staple for the new year. As for the French twists, they were our favorite go-to hairstyle in high school."

Carol laughed. "Everyone else was wearing big hair, but we wanted the more sophisticated look. As wild as we were, I'm surprised we weren't into the big hair. Or at least adding crazy colors to our hair." She ran her hand over the back of her hair to make sure her twist was still in place. It was.

Gloria picked up her metallic gold purse and headed to the door with Carol. She smelled of White Diamonds perfume. "We were way too mature for that kind of thing."

"So mature," Carol said. She burped loudly, and they both burst out laughing.

"I got my wallet filled with ones. Bigger bills too. I'll treat you to a lap dance! From one of the men; not from me," Gloria quickly reiterated.

Carol smirked. As sophisticated as they both tried to pretend they were, in some ways, they were still quite the opposite. And she wouldn't have it any other way.

They headed back out to the cab, both eager to start their night.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

Bridgette pulled off a remarkable performance. She never ceased to impress Chase.

"Now it's your turn, Gorgeous!" she said to him backstage as she kissed him, leaving a big red lipstick print. She wiped it away with her thumb.

"I hated that you were chosen for a private lap dance tonight," Chase grumbled.

Bridgette smiled. "It wasn't my first lap dance, and it certainly won't be my last. These people pay big money. It's good for business." Tonight, the girls' lap dances were given before their performances. The men's lap dances, however, were given after the men's performances. "Don't worry. They aren't allowed to touch. They will be escorted out faster than I can say 'security' if they ever try anything, and they will be banned from the club forever. There are no strikes; just straight expulsion in this club," she assured him.

"Still…" he murmured.

"I could feel the same way, you know. Don't think you will be exempt from giving lap dances," Bridgette said, her arms crossed over her chest.

Chase blushed. "I'm really supposed to give a lap dance?"

Bridgette smiled and nodded. "Uh huh!"

"What am I supposed to do?" Chase asked, wide-eyed.

Bridgette placed a hand over his shoulder. "Just wing it! You're amazing. You'll think of something. Just do what you would do on stage. Straddle them and grind. I'm sure any woman will be well pleased with that!"

Chase blushed. "Whatever you say." She tried to play it cool on the outside, but on the inside he was terrified. Performing on stage was bad enough, but to have to do it one on one? He just hoped he didn't faint.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

Gloria was passing out bills like candy. Carol just shook her head and smirked as she watched her. Sure the guys were hot, but Carol wasn't too impressed with any of them. She guessed things had changed now that she had Casey. No one really compared to him. Even so, she joined in on dishing out bills with Gloria when Tony the Tiger came out onto the stage. It was an incredibly stupid stage name. After all, he was named after a cartoon cereal box character. But he was built like a dream, had just the right amount of tan, and was moving around in nothing but a tiny little pair of practically painted on tiger-print shorts. There was a king –sized bed on the stage with a tiger-print bedspread, and he was moving around in the bed as if there were an invisible woman underneath him. It was driving all the women crazy—most of all Gloria. Carol had to admit, he was even making _her_ heart palpitate a little.

Carol and Gloria screamed and hollered like they were back in high school as they cheered him on, and they greedily pushed through the other ladies to make sure they were the ones stuffing the most bills in his tight little tiger shorts.

He flashed them a perfectly white smile. "Thank you Gorgeous!" he said to Gloria. "And thank _you_ , Sexy!" he then said to Carol with a wink.

Gloria and Carol both squealed, and headed back to their table.

"He called me Gorgeous!" Gloria cooed.

"And he called me sexy. I think he likes me better!" Carol insisted.

Gloria raised an eyebrow. "What about Casey?"

"Casey who?" Carol teased. She laughed, then in a flash turned serious again and placed a hand over Gloria's shoulder as she looked her in the eyes. "Don't tell him I said that. He'll take me serious even though I'm not."

Gloria rolled his eyes. "It's more fun when you're single, you know. You can look at any man you want without having to feel guilty about it."

Carol smiled. "I know. But I'm more than happy with Casey. I don't want anyone else."

Gloria was only half listening for the announcer came on to announce the last dancer of the night. "Now onto our final dancer of the night, our newest dancer with his debut performance, Speed Chaser!"

Carol looked in curiosity as the sound of a motorcycle filled the room. Soon, a young guy came riding onto the stage on a Harley. He turned the motor off, and got off the bike. He then took the helmet off and shook out his hair.

The ladies were going nuts, but Carol's mouth dropped open.

Gloria playfully elbowed her. "He's hot, huh? He's a little young for me, but I'd be perfectly fine with being a cradle robber. I 'd ride him any time!"

Carol elbowed her hard.

Gloria rubbed her arm. "What was that for? He's got to be legal or he wouldn't be allowed to dance here!"

Carol shook her head, feeling sick as she saw Chase drop his motorcycle jacket, and then undo his tight leather pants. "It's not that."

"Then what?" Gloria asked, licking her lips as he kicked off his boots.

"That's my nephew Chase," Carol confessed.

Gloria laughed. "Didn't you know he was a stripper?"

Carol shook her head. "I had no idea." Chase pulled off his T-shirt, causing the women to all scream. Carol knew she should look away, but she was still in too much shock to look away.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

Chase pulled off his leather pants, which were the last thing he had on beside his Speedo that said _Hungry_ on the back. He had gone back and forth on what his debut outfit should be. Bridgette had helped him pick out a couple of others as well as the one she had already helped him pick out.

It was a difficult task to peel off his leather pants without taking his Speedo down with them, but he had practiced, and thankfully was able to get them down and off safely—Speedo still in tact. However, his Speedo was way too small for him. Bridgette said the smaller the better, but this was just ridiculous. He felt as if it was cutting of his circulation. He was just happy that he couldn't see too far into the crowd, what with the bright lights and all. It helped tame a little of his embarrassment and nerves.

The crowd cheered as he then did his pole dance, working the pole like a pro. He worked it fast, swinging around it as if he had been doing it for years instead of months. He really was a natural. They had decided to keep the bike on stage after all, so he moved his act back over to the bike where he did many more provocative moves. He ground up against the bike as he sat down on it, as if he were having sex with it. He thought it must look so ridiculous, but his choreographer had insisted it would be hot, as had Bridgette. From the sounds of the ladies in the crowd, they thought so to, apparently.

When his act was over, he headed to the front of the stage and got a whole Speedo full of bills. He had so many, his Speedo almost didn't hold them all.

He blew a kiss to the ladies and thanked them, and then got back on the Harley, and sped back stage. Once he was back there, he turned the Harley off, and got off the bike.

Bridgette ran to him with open arms. "You were so great out there! I'm so very proud of you!"

Chase grinned. "Thank you." At first he had been embarrassed, but now he was feeling the rush. He was already 'hungry' as his Speedo read, for more. So when it was announced that he had been chosen by management give one of the lap dances, he wasn't even nervous. _Bring it!_ he thought. Besides, he could use the extra tips. He grinned.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

"I think we should leave now," Carol said. She didn't want Chase to notice her. It would be embarrassing for both of them.

"Not now! It hasn't struck midnight yet! Besides, I want my lap dance! I already paid for us each to get one, and they're non-refundable," Gloria insisted.

Carol sighed. "Fine." At least they'd be taken to private rooms for the lap dance anyway. Chase wouldn't see her.

So, the person in charge of the lap dances came over to them and informed them that they should follow her.

They followed her into two separate rooms, and then were left alone as they waited for their dancer to come in.

Carol wasn't even in the mood any more. Though, she supposed if she got Tony the Tiger she could get in the mood.

Suddenly, a thought hit her. What if Gloria got Chase for her lap dance? Then she felt sick. Worse, what if she herself got Chase?

Carol got out of her chair and was about to head to the door when the door opened, and in walked Chase.

"Hello," he said as he came in, "I'm Speed Chaser. I'm so ready to ride you, are you feeling the need for speed?"

Carol paled and fell back down into her chair. _Oh, God, why?_ she silently asked, looking Heavenward.

Chase turned around from shutting the door, and his face paled as white as a ghost when he saw her. "What are _you_ doing here?"

Carol blushed. "Gloria, my best friend from high school that I told you about who came down for a visit…. She wanted to come here, so I agreed. I knew we didn't have to see Bridgette strip since we came after the women dancers were already done, and I didn't know you were a dancer as well. I had no idea I'd see you here, let alone as a dancer!"

"Well I'm certainly not going to private dance for you!" Chase said, his face turning beet red.

"I kind of already saw you dance. I meant to look away, but I was so shocked…" Carol trailed off.

Chase just wanted to die. He'd be perfectly happy dying right then and there. The only embarrassing part would be them dragging his Speedo clad body out of a strip club in a private room, nonetheless, that was only occupied with him and his aunt.

"But your damn right you're not going to dance for me privately! Let's just leave the room and pretend this never happened!" Carol said.

Chase nodded. "Good idea!"

Carol stood up, but accidentally dropped her purse that had been on her lap. She was so flustered and embarrassed that she hadn't even thought of it.

Chase bent down to pick it up for her, and then he heard the rip…and he felt his Speedo fall off. Then, he felt the draft. He froze then, still crouched on the floor with Carol's purse in hand. He was so horrified he could barely breathe.

Carol wanted to vomit. Looking upward so as not to have to see anything of Chase's she had no desire to see, she leaned down, snatched her purse, and then headed out the door. "I'll send another male dancer in with a robe for you!" she called out. Before shutting the door behind her.

She then went back into the main part of the club and was relieved to see the male owner of the club. "My lap dance dancer's Speedo broke. He needs a robe in room B."

"So sorry about that. I'll get right on it," he told her. "Thanks for letting me know."

Carol then headed into the party room, and grabbed two Campaigns off a tray. She needed them to try to wash away the horror of the night…particularly the past ten minutes.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

Gloria came in ten minutes later, grinning from ear to ear. "I got Tony the Tiger, and let me tell you, Honey, they don't call him the tiger for nothing! I used up the rest of my bills, but I don't even care! What an animal he is. Rar!" She made a cat claw motion.

Carol narrowed her eyes. "Of course _you_ got the good one. I got Chase!"

Gloria burst out laughing. "That is absolutely hilarious!"

Carol narrowed her eyes at her. "No, it's not! It's not funny at all! In fact, it's quite traumatizing for the both of us." She then explained to her everything that had happened.

Gloria was practically on the floor when she finished explaining. "You could have asked for another dancer you, know. I'm sure they would have understood and given you one."

Carol shook her head. "No way! I'm through with strip clubs, thank you very much!"

Gloria shrugged. "Suit yourself! But you'll miss out on all the fun."

"Five minutes until the ball drops!" someone called out then.

Carol looked around for Chase. "I hope he's okay," she said, not seeing him anywhere.

Gloria smirked, and grabbed a Champaign. I'm sure the last place he wants to be right now is anywhere near you."

Carol sighed. "I'm sure you're right."

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

Chase was sobbing in Bridgette's arms. He didn't care how weak it made him look. He was traumatized an embarrassed, and simply could not face seeing his Aunt Carol for a while.

Bridgette gently rubbed his back. They were both back in their regular clothes now.

"I'm sorry I made you wear a Speedo too tight. I guess I didn't realize how small it actually was on you," she apologized. "And I'm also sorry I really did jinx you after all. I didn't mean to. I didn't think jinxing was real!"

"It's okay. You had no idea it would end badly. I just wanna go home. Well, not home, but…" He trailed off.

"You can stay with me for a few days. You can sleep in the bed, or on the couch. Either way, we can still take it slow. We don't have to do anything even if we share the bed. I'm just giving you respite from your aunt," Bridgette said soothingly, still rubbing his back.

"Thank you," he said.

"You know, I'm sure she's just as embarrassed as you are," Bridgette said with a smirk.

"She couldn't possibly be! No one could possibly have ever been as embarrassed in their life as I am at this moment," Chase grumbled miserably.

Bridgette took his hand. "Come on. We can watch the ball drop in the bar. No one else will be watching it from the bar TVs. Then we can go back to my place."

Chase nodded. "All right." He took her hand in his own and kissed it. "Thank you."

Bridgette smiled brightly. "Anything for you, Chase."

They kissed, and then headed to the bar.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

"Five! Four! Three! Two! One! Happy New Year!" the crowd shouted as they watched the ball drop on the giant TV screen set up at Club Excess.

People blew party horns and confetti was shot out of a confetti cannon, and Aiden pulled Hope into a kiss so passionate, he had tilted her back when kissing her.

Hope smiled, and kissed him back hungrily, and with just as much passion.

He then set her back upright. "Happy New Year, Baby."

She rested her forehead against his and smiled. "Happy New Year, My Love, My Mr. Jennings." She gently stroked some hair out of his eyes, and they kissed some more. With a proposal, more than likely a marriage, and a new house, 2018 was going to be a great year for them. They could feel it!

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

Carol wished Casey a Happy New Year and told him she loved him, and then they exchanged kisses through Face time.

"Where are you?" Casey asked her.

"A party at a club." That was all he had to know for now. Carol was just grateful that he couldn't see what kind of club.

"Well, have a good night. Jake is already asleep, but he made it for watching the ball drop at least," Casey said. He hadn't wanted Jake to be alone on New Years, so he had brought him with him and stayed at a pet friendly hotel. Carol wasn't sure if it was ridiculous or adorable.

They said their goodbyes, and then she hung up and toasted with Gloria.

"To our friendship lasting many more years!" Gloria said.

"I'll drink to that!" Carol said as they toasted, and then drank.

"And here's to you and Chase getting over him accidentally showing his ding-a-ling to you!" Gloria said.

Carol nearly vomited. "Shut up!" she grumbled as she grabbed another Champaign flute off a passing waiter's tray.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

Bridgette and Chase toasted with their only glass of Champaign for the night. They had kissed at the stroke of midnight.

"To a better year for the both of us!" Bridgette said.

Chase nodded. "To a better year for the both of us!"

They toasted, and then drank up.

"I just hope my aunt Carol doesn't tell my dad about my job," Chase said as they set their glasses back on the bar and headed out with security to Chase's car.

Bridgette put an arm around him. "Would it really be such a bad thing?"

Chase shrugged. "My dad can be judgmental at times, and protective of me besides that. So who knows?" Either way, he felt like the sun was setting on his life now. In the New Year, things were going to change. Whether it was for the worse or for the better was yet to be determined.


	73. S3E23

_**This Love…**_

 _ **Season 3 Episode 23: A Hundred Challenging Things a Boy Can Do**_

Chase had been avoiding Carol all week. He had even resorted to buying new clothes at the store just so he wouldn't have to go back to the condo and risk running into Carol.

However, when his trial day approached, Chase knew he couldn't avoid going back forever. He had to face the music.

"I'm going to miss having you sleep over," Bridgette said as she watched him throw his stuff into a duffle bag he had bought. She had been nice enough to wash all his dirty clothes for him.

"I know, but it doesn't mean we can't spend more nights together," Chase said. Not that they had really spent the night together. He had slept on the couch so as not to tempt himself or Bridgette. He just couldn't imagine having their first time together under such embarrassing circumstances. He didn't want to relate their first time together to the time that he had accidentally flashed his aunt after unknowingly having danced provocatively while she had been watching.

Bridgette smiled, and hugged him from behind. "True!"

He finished packing. "I guess it's time to face the music whether I'm ready to or not."

Bridgette kissed his cheek. "If I didn't have rehearsals, I'd come with you."

Chase smiled at her. "I appreciate that, but this is something I have to do alone."

"I can take time off to be with you at the trial if you need me to," Bridgette informed him.

Chase shook his head. "That is also something I have to do alone, but I appreciate the offer, I really do." He kissed her cheek. "See you soon."

"Hey." She pulled him back and kissed him more passionately on the lips. She then broke the kiss and grinned at him. "Good luck. With everything. I'm sure you won't need it."

"Thanks. I wish I could be as sure," Chase said before finally leaving her apartment.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

Haiden cried after he had gotten his four-month shot, and Hope took him in her arms and kissed his tears away. "I'm so sorry, baby, but it's for your own good. It will keep you healthy!" She kissed his cheek. She hated when he cried. Madeleine, however, took it like a champ.

"The one who cries all the time didn't cry. Go figure!" Aiden said.

Kayla smiled. "These shots aren't supposed to be painful. If it makes you feel any better, he may just be crying in surprise."

Hope wasn't sure that was the reason, but she was willing to go along with it for her own emotional sake if anything else. At least Haiden had stopped crying. His crying had been short-lived.

She gently rubbed his back, and he gurgled.

Aiden gently rubbed Madeleine's back as well. She was falling asleep in his arms.

"Well, they both appear to be very healthy. You're both doing an excellent job with them," Kayla said to them with a big smile. "You know, I'd love to have you guys over again. Steve will behave this time. I promise. I even got him to admit the other day that Aiden, you take really good care of the twins and that you, Hope, seem a lot happier since getting back together with him."

"It's a good thing we're in a hospital, because I think I'm having a heart attack!" Aiden teased.

Kayla grinned. "He's not that bad! He's just very protective of Hope. He thinks of her as a sister. Not to mention, she was the love of his best friend's life. Bo was like a brother to him."

Aiden nodded. "I understand. Plus, with my past, who could blame him for being skeptical?"

Kayla gently pat his shoulder. "He's coming around. Don't worry. I can see you've changed, and as far as I'm concerned, all that other stuff is water under the bridge." She then turned serious. "But if you ever pull a stunt anything near what you pulled before, both Steve and I will make sure your body never gets found under that water."

Aiden nodded. "Dully noted."

"Kay…" Hope warned, giving her a look.

Kayla shrugged. "I'm just saying! There will be consequences if he even thinks about going back to his old ways." Her expression then softened as she looked at Aiden and placed her hand over his shoulder again. "I know you won't though, so there's nothing to worry about!"

Aiden looked at her, seriousness in his eyes. "You have my word that I will never hurt her again so long as I live. Even then I'll come back in ghost for to protect her." He grinned.

"Kayla laughed. "I bet you would!"

Hope kissed Aiden's cheek, and then they put the twins back into their carriers.

"Good luck with the trial tomorrow. I hope they put that scumbag behind bars forever," Kayla said on their way out.

Aiden looked back at her. "Thank you. I'll make sure they do."

They then left the hospital after exchanging goodbyes with Kayla.

"Melinda has become even more vicious and out for blood since returning as district attorney. Jeremiah's toast," Aiden said to Hope.

Hope nodded. "No judge or jury in their right mind would side with a kidnapper and an abuser."

"Just so long as no one pays anybody off," Aiden grumbled. Being a lawyer, he knew better than most how corrupt the justice system could be.

"Judge Matthews is a very respectable judge. I know he'll do right by Chase," Hope assured him.

Aiden nodded, then took her hand in his free hand and gently squeezed it. He smiled at her. "I could never get through this without you by my side. You know that, right?"

Hope kissed his cheek. "Lucky for you, you won't have to."

They smiled at each other, and then headed out to their car to go home.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

Since having gone to Bridgette's, Chase had texted his father throughout the week about the trial. He had also informed him he wanted to spend some time with Bridgette at her apartment, and that he didn't have to worry about him. He had said he'd be returning to the condo shortly. Aiden hadn't asked questions, and Chase was grateful to him for that. He hoped Carol hadn't told Aiden about his interesting new career choice, but even if she had, at least Aiden hadn't berated him for it, Chase figured.

Chase took a deep breath and slowly let it out before sticking his key in his condo door and opening the door. At first, he didn't see Carol anywhere in sight, and he sighed a sigh of relief. However, his sigh of relief was premature, for Carol suddenly popped her head out of her room. She was the one to sigh the sigh of relief this time.

"Thank God you came back! I thought you had moved out for good," she said.

Chase set his duffle bag down on the floor. "I would never just leave you here stuck with paying the full rent," he said simply.

Carol came out of her room then, and sat down on the couch. "Chase, I'm so sorry for what happened. I didn't mean to embarrass you."

Chase was looking at the floor so as to avoid having to look at her. "It's all right. It's not like you purposely went there to see me strip and dance. You didn't even know I worked there." He then remembered the question he wanted to ask her. "Did you tell my dad about it?"

"Are you crazy? Like I really want to embarrass either of us any more than we already were!" Carol said.

Chase managed to look up at her and smile. "So you were embarrassed too?"

Carol rolled her eyes. "Well, duh! It was one of the most humiliating moments of my life! When I told Casey about it, he laughed at me every day for a week! In fact, just this morning before he left for work he laughed at me. But then he told me I should get over it, and that people go through much more embarrassing things in life than we did."

Chase felt his face go bright red. "You told him?!"

Carol smiled at him apologetically and shrugged. "I'm sorry. I felt too guilty keeping the secret from him. But he promised not to tell a soul. Well, Jake was around when we discussed it, but I doubt _he'll_ tell anybody."

Chase couldn't help but laugh at that. "Jake overheard? Great! Now he's going to tell all the dogs in the neighborhood! You know he can't keep a secret!"

They both laughed at that.

Carol then turned serious again. "I really am sorry, Chase. And, if it makes you feel any better, I didn't get a good look at your… I looked away the second the Speedo broke. Besides, it's not like I haven't seen it before. Aiden had me change you and give you a bath once when I babysat you. True you were only two then, but…" she trailed off. "If you want me to show you my naked body so that we're even, I will."

"Do and you die!" Chase warned.

Carol smirked. "I was kidding, Chase."

Chase smirked too.

"What do you say we forget this ever happened?" Carol asked.

"Can we do that?" Chase asked.

Carol nodded. "I don't see why not. Well, except for one thing."

Chase nearly groaned. "What?"

Carol grinned. "Can I have Tony the Tiger's number to give to Gloria? She thinks she's in love."

Chase broke into a grin. "I hate to break it to her, but he's gay."

Carol was surprised. "Really? Not even bi?"

Chase shook his head. "He's living with his boyfriend Sam. He hates dancing for women, but there are no gay strip clubs in Salem, so he has no choice."

Carol laughed. "Like Toucan Sam?"

Chase laughed. "Tony the Tiger and Toucan Sam. I never thought of that before! Heck, maybe Sam can get a job at Neverland too and that can be his stage name."

"I can only imagine why they'd call him Toucan, though I'm sure it would have nothing to do with his nose," Carol teased.

Chase made a face. "You're gross, Aunt Carol!"

Carol grinned. "You know it! Now let's go get some lunch and pick out a suit for you to wear at the trial. I promised your father I'd take you to pick one out."

Chase nodded. "Just let me unpack my bag first."

"Okay. And Chase?" Carol asked.

Chase paused from the doorway of his room and looked over his shoulder. "Yes?"

"I really think you should tell your dad about your job. He might be hurt you never told him. I mean, it's going to come out eventually anyway. You might as well tell him before it does," Carol reasoned.

Chase sighed. "I'll think about it." He then walked into his room to unpack. Right now, telling his dad was out of the question. But he was glad that he and Carol were able to work through their awkwardness. That and this upcoming trial was about all he could handle right now.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

Chase was nervous as he entered the courtroom a couple days later. He sat with Melinda Trask, the district attorney that would be handling his case.

"Don't worry, Chase," she said, clapping him over the shoulder. "We've got this one in the bag. That son of a bitch is going down."

Chase nodded, wishing he felt as confident as she sounded.

Aiden and Hope were sitting behind him.

Aiden placed a hand over his shoulder from behind and gently rubbed it in reassurance as Jeremiah came into the court room, led by security.

Jeremiah smiled at Chase, and Chase felt his whole body go cold.

"Don't let him get to you. He's just trying to get under your skin," Aiden murmured to him, gently rubbing his shoulder again.

"Just concentrate on all he did to you. Don't let him get away with it. Let the anger build up inside of you, and then there will be no room left for fear," Hope said to him.

Melinda Trask nodded and smiled. "Excellent advice!"

Chase nodded. He took a deep breath and slowly let it out.

The bailiff then instructed them to all rise for the honorable Judge Francis Matthew's.

Judge Francis Matthews came into the court room, gavel in hand, and took a seat behind his desk and called the court to order. He also gave them permission to be seated.

They all sat.

When it came time for the opening statements, Jeremiah's lawyer Mr. Randall went first.

"We are here today for the trial of Jackson verses Jennings, or Jackson verses the state if you would. My client is unfairly on trial for something he did not do. He was doing nothing but being a kind Samaritan by taking in a homeless boy who had no memory or recollection of his life beforehand. He treated the boy like family only to have the boy, Mr. Chase Jennings, turn on him and lie about the events that took place. Mr. Jennings has no proof at all of what went on when he was living with my client, and yet here we are, in court with my client under fire for something he simply did not do. Mr. Jennings is an ungrateful human being, and he is deeply disturbed. His lies shouldn't cause the rest of my client's life to be ruined just because Mr. Jennings is a pathological liar. Thank you."

Chase clenched his fists together. "I'm not lying! And I'm not a pathological liar!" he snapped.

Melinda placed a hand overtop of his shoulder. "He's a smug, arrogant asshole. Ignore him and let me handle this." She stood up and walked in front of the jury.

"Ladies and Gentlemen of the jury, thank you for joining us today. On the contrary to Mr. Randall's suggestion, my client is not a pathological liar. It is his own client, Jeremiah Jackson, who is the pathological liar. My client was drugged so that he would forget his memory, and then he was abused on a daily basis, both emotionally and eventually physically too. When he finally stopped taking the drugs, everything became clear to him, which you will soon hear all about. I ask that you listen to our side fully, and once you have, I have no doubt that you will do the right thing by having Mr. Jackson thrown in jail where he belongs. Thank you." Melinda then took her seat.

Chase relaxed a little bit as she sat down beside him. "Thank you," he whispered.

She smiled at him. "Don't thank me yet. This trial has only just begun."

"All right. Now that we've heard both opening statements, I'd like to let the defense take the court. Mr. Randall, please call to the stand your first witness," Judge Matthews ordered.

Mr. Randall stood up. "Your Honor, as my first witness, I'd like to call to the stand Clyde Weston." Apparently, even prisoners were allowed to testify. Chase was shocked.

Chase glanced back at his father who didn't look concerned.

Chase then sat forward again. Ready or not, it was time for the first whiteness, and the trial had truly begun.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

"Mr. Weston, you've been called to the court today as a character witness. Can you please start off with telling us how you know Mr. Jeremiah Jackson, how you became friends, and what kind of person he is?" Mr. Randall asked him after he had been sworn in.

Clyde smiled a Cheshire Cat smile as he answered. "No problem at all, Mr. Randall. Thank you for having me. Mr. Jackson and I met in high school. We found out we had a lot in common, and we became fast friends. We even ended up going into business together."

"And what business was that, Mr. Weston?" Mr. Randall asked him.

We were growing our own medical marijuana and selling it to pharmaceutical companies. We made quite the profit over it, and it was a good living for us. Neither of us was much good at anything else. We never went to college. But growing medical marijuana, we were good at, and it was legal in our state. Jeremiah loved the fact that he could make a living helping people without even having to be a doctor. Jeremiah is a good person. In fact, he's a better person than I am. Sometimes I didn't always do things the legal way, but Jeremiah wanted nothing to do with that. One time when I was going through a drinking phase, he even helped me through it. I was a nasty son of a bitch, and I even beat on my then wife when I was drunk. Jeremiah found out and gave me hell for it. I refused to go to rehab, but he personally attended to me. He dumped all my alcohol and made sure I didn't buy or have access to more. He got me sober, and became my sponsor after that. He made sure I stayed sober. I haven't had a drink since!"

Mr. Randall nodded. "Thank you, Mr. Weston. I have no further questions for you."

Melinda was then called to cross examin. "Mr. Weston, not counting today or any other time since Mr. Jackson was arrested, when was the last time you talked to him?"

"We kept in contact a couple times a week. I'm well-behaved in prison, you see. So I earned phone privileges," Clyde explained.

"Did Mr. Jackson ever tell you about the boy he had taken in as a son, as he claims?"

Clyde nodded. "Yes, Ma'am! He was thrilled to have another boy. He had always wanted a second son, but being a single man, that wasn't going to happen, or so he thought. He was very pleased to have Mr. Chase Jennings come along, although he didn't know that is was Chase at the time. He loved the boy a lot, and told me so every time he called. He was upset, however, when Chase kept acting out. He was very grateful to be given a home when he didn't remember it. This lasted for about a year before Chase had started to become ungrateful and acted out on a daily basis. Jeremiah was very patient with him, but it just wasn't enough for Chase. So now Chase is spouting off lies when all Jeremiah did was give him a home and treat him with the utmost love and respect. Kids these days have no respect for elders, or any gratitude. It's sad, really."

Chase stood up. "I didn't have respect for him? _He_ didn't have respect for _me_. And as for gratitude, no way would I ever be grateful for all the trauma and abuse he put me through!"

Melinda shot Chase eye daggers as the judge banged his gavel.

"Order in the court! Mr. Jennings, you will have your turn. But for now I need you to sit down. Otherwise I will hold you in contempt!" Judge Matthews barked.

Chase flushed. "I'm sorry, Your Honor. It won't happen again." He sat down, and Aiden placed a hand over his shoulder to calm him. "Don't let him get to you," he whispered. "Trust me, that man is nothing but trouble. He is a crook, and at times dangerous. Nothing good should be expected of him. He is just being Clyde. The judge and jury will see right through it."

Chase nodded, and took deep breaths, slowly letting them out. "Sorry," he whispered back.

"Mr. Weston, is it true that Mr. Aiden Jennings, Chase Jennings father used to be your lawyer?" Melinda asked.

Clyde nodded. "Yes, Ma'am! He was a mighty fine lawyer too. But he eventually cut me loose, claiming he didn't trust me. As it turns out, it was _I_ who couldn't trust _him_. He ended up trying to kill his then wife, but not before switching the legal documents to give him all of the life insurance instead of her children. Had I stuck with him any longer, he might have swindled me out of my money, or worse, tried to kill _me_! I guess the apple doesn't fall far from the tree, huh?"

"Mr. Weston, there was no proof that he was the one to switch the life insurance policy, but even if there was, he isn't the one on trial today; you are. And as for trying to kill his wife, it was proven to have been a doppelganger; not him," Melinda informed him coolly. She didn't want anyone looking upon her client in a bad light. Unfortunately, the way the world worked, the father got blamed for the son's sins and the son got blamed for the father's sins nowadays.

Clyde shrugged. "It doesn't matter. The bottom line is that a little part of him had made him accept to kill her even if he didn't end up going through with it in the end. As far as we know, Chase could be just like his dad."

Melinda had to get him off the stand before she herself got put on trial for murder. "I have no further questions, Your Honor."

"You may be dismissed," Judge Matthews said to Clyde, who graciously left in handcuffs with security back to his cell.

Next to the stand was the supposed best friend of Trevin. Chase knew for a fact that the boy was paid to lie on the stand. Trevin didn't have any friends, let alone a best friend. That is why Jeremiah had kidnapped him to begin with.

Mr. Randall asked him what kind of father Jeremiah had been to Trevin.

"He was such a good father that I half wished he was my father too! Don't get me wrong, I love my father, but Jeremiah was like a second father to me. He always made sure that Trevin had the best of everything, and when he saw that I liked something of Trevin's, he bought me one too, knowing my family couldn't afford to buy such nice things. He was so patient with Trevin. Trevin could sometimes be mouthy to his father. Even as his best friend, I had to admit that Trevin could have been nicer. Not that Trevin was a bad kid, because he wasn't. He was just a typical teenager acting out I guess. I thought for sure Jeremiah would smack him after some of the things Trevin said to him. But Jeremiah never lost his cool. He just told him to go to his room and cool off before talking to him again. It worked! Trevin would always end up apologizing, and they would hug and make up."

Chase wanted to gag. The story was such a crock, he figured the judge and jury would have to both be dumb to ever believe it. Even so, there was a little part of him that worried they actually _would_ believe it.

Melinda didn't bother with a cross examination.

Next to the stand was Jeremiah. It was the usual Jeremiah acting like a saint who would never hurt a fly. He claimed to love his son more than life, and that he was _so_ torn up about his son's death. He even told Melinda that he wish he had died himself instead of his son.

"No parent ever wants to see their son die. Maybe If I had been more attentive… I should have assured him that Chase's leaving wasn't anyone's fault, and certainly not his! He was so distraught at losing his new brother, I am convinced that that is what made him run away and get into drugs." Jeremiah teared up like he was trying to win an Academy Award. "If I had just talked to Trevin, then maybe then he wouldn't have killed himself. Maybe I _should_ go to jail after all. I should go to jail for failing as a father, and for causing my son, though inadvertently to kill himself!" Jeremiah was sobbing now, and Melinda Trask had had enough. I have no further questions, Your Honor.

Mr. Randall was smiling so smugly, it took everything Melinda had in her not to swipe her acrylic nails right across his face! That would wipe away the smug smile for sure!

Instead, she called her next witness. "Your Honor, I'd like to call to the stand, Mr. Chase Jennings," she said calmly and surely.

Chase took a deep breath and slowly let it out as Aiden gently rubbed his shoulder. This was it—the moment of truth.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

"Chase, I know this will be hard for you, but can you please tell us your story?" Melinda asked him gently.

Chase nodded. "I was at a concert with some friends, waiting by the stage door by myself when I was suddenly knocked out from behind. When I came to, Jeremiah was there. He told me that my family had abandoned me, and that he had found me on the streets." Chase hated reliving this, but he knew he had to. He went on to tell them everything leading up to the rape.

"And then what happened?" Melinda asked gently, even though she already knew. "What led you to your memory finally coming back?"

Chase took a few calming breaths. This was the worst part. He hated reliving this more than any other part, and he hated that he had to tell a whole courtroom full of people. But it had to be known." He then told them all about the rape, and how Trevin had felt so guilty afterwards that he had told him to stop taking the drugs. He had been the one who gave him the key to escape. He explained that he had been kidnapped so that Trevin would have a companion.

"I packed some food to go, and then hitchhiked all the way home to Oregon. When I found out my Dad had moved back to Salem, I had to hitch again, only this time all the way back to Salem where I found my Dad back with his old girlfriend at her place. I had been hoping that was where he was, and thankfully, it was."

"And I am aware that you went to see Mr. Jackson in jail. Can you please tell me the nature of your discussion?" Melinda asked next.

Chase nodded. "I told him what Trevin had done to me. He said that his son is better off dead than being, as he put it, 'a queer'. He said that Trevin and I both deserved the discipline he gave us."

Melinda looked solemn as she nodded. "Father of the Year, huh?" she asked the jury.

They all looked stunned, and a little uncomfortable.

"I have no further questions, your honor."

But Mr. Randall had questions as he came up to cross examine. "Mr. Jennings, is it true that you are a rapist yourself? Did you not rape the daughter of your father's girlfriend?"

Chase blushed as the jury gasped. "I did, Sir. And it is something that I will regret for the rest of my life. At the time, I thought my father was an attempted murderer. I also thought he was dead. I had no one else in this world. My aunt was my only family I had left, and she didn't want me. Hope had her mind on other things, and Ciara, well, Ciara was my only friend in the world. I was messed up in the head, so even though she said no, I had it in my mind that she really did love me and want me. I raped her. As soon as I had, I realized what a mistake I had made. I went to jail for it, and later a mental institution. I was there for over a year, and I got the help I needed. I am a changed person now."

"I did a little research, Mr. Jennings, and I found out that you are currently employed as a dancer at the Neverland Strip club down town. Is this correct?" Mr. Randall smirked smugly.

Chase felt his cheeks flush. He wondered what had made Mr. Randall even think to look. He wanted to lie, but since he knew it could easily be proven that he worked there, and since he was under oath, he knew he couldn't. He looked down at his lap. "Yes, it's true."

"And what made you get into that line of work?" Mr. Randall pushed.

"Objection, Your Honor! What relevance does this have to the trial?" Melinda asked, sounding incredibly annoyed that she hadn't been informed of this earlier.

"I am simply trying to show what kind of character Mr. Chase Jennings has currently, Your Honor," Mr. Randal explained calmly.

"I'll allow it, but get to the point Mr. Randall," Judge Matthews ordered.

"Yes, Your Honor. So, was does your job entail?" Mr. Randal asked.

Chase looked at him in the eyes. He refused to let him intimidate him.

"In answer to your first question, my girlfriend is a stripper there as well. She got me a job when I had nothing else that interested me. I wanted to be closer to her, and she talked me into it. Now that I learned how to do it, it's kind of fun. They money is good, and I can certainly use it. Rent is expensive! Plus, I want to be able to spoil my family and make it up to them for all the heartache I put them through. It is not a fully nude strip club. I strip down to a Speedo and pole dance. I also have a little dance on a Harley since my dance name is Speed Chaser. It's really not a bad occupation. It pays the bills. No one is allowed to touch us. It may not be the most respectable job, but it's certainly not the most unrespectable job either. It's not like I'm doing a porno!" Chase quipped.

The jury laughed, and Mr. Randal looked annoyed. "Well, someone who is so susceptible to peer pressure, and who doesn't care enough to get a respectable job doesn't make me think of you as a model citizen."

Chase rolled his eyes. "Your client's the one in prison right now; not me. He is an abusive man. I was there, and you weren't. He put me through hell. Maybe I deserved it. Even so, it didn't give him the right to do what he did to me, nor did it give him the right to do what he did to Trevin. What Trevin and I did was wrong. He was wrong to rape me, and I was wrong to rape Ciara. But we weren't right in the head at the time, and I am owning up to my mistakes. Your client has no excuse, and he isn't even owning up to it."

"I have no further questions, your Honor." Mr. Randall said coolly. He looked livid.

"You may step down, Mr. Jennings," the judge replied.

Chase sighed with relief, and took his seat next to Melinda. He hadn't looked at his dad or Hope, no could be bare to. But when Aiden was called up to testify, he no longer could avoid looking at him.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

Aiden, and then when he had left the stand, Hope, were both character witnesses. They both gave accounts of the night that Chase had come to their home, weak from malnutrition, and traumatized and scared from what he had just gone through. Kayla had even come to testify about the condition Chase had been in when brought in to the hospital.

"His malnutrition was from not having eaten right in days. He also had bruises on certain parts of his body that were not self-inflicted," Kayla had informed the jury.

Mr. Randal had tried to spin it that Chase had purposely not eaten, and that he had had a friend give him the bruises to set Jeremiah up, but his defense was weak and he knew it.

Aiden's testimony may not have meant much since he was Chase's father and would therefore be bias, but the fact that a well-respected police officer was telling the same story (even if she was Aiden's girlfriend), helped with the believability factor. And if any one still had any doubt, Kayla's testimony as a doctor and the proof of Chase's medical records was enough to diminish any skepticism. At least, the prosecution side hoped it would be enough.

The trial had gone on all day long, and now it was at last, finally time for the closing statements.

Mr. Randall was up first. "Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I know a lot of what you heard on the prosecution side seems pretty believable. But before you go locking an innocent man—my client—up for something he didn't do, please think about who their witnesses are. Of course Aiden Jennings, being the father of Chase isn't going to say anything to hurt his case. Not all lawyers are good. I wouldn't put it past him for a second to lie to protect his son. I mean, come on. Let's not forget how Aiden Jennings planned on killing his wife—on their wedding night nonetheless! I don't think a man who had seriously considered killing his wife would have any problem lying under oath. He probably wouldn't even bat an eye about it. It's child's play compared to planning to kill his wife. As for his girlfriend Hope, well, true, she may be a cop, but she is also the girlfriend to Aiden Jennings. Let's not forget she killed an old man in a wheel chair and tried to hide the body! Then, she didn't even think she should have been in prison for it! She never showed much remorse about it. As far as she was concerned, he deserved it. I'm sure she has it in her mind that Jeremiah deserves to go to jail for something he didn't do. And finally, let's move on to Dr. Johnson. She is a close friend and once sister-in-law of Hope Brady. I can easily see her lying for her. And I am more than sure that after all her years of being a doctor, she has ways of falsifying lab reports. Their case is based solely on hearsay and bias opinions and nothing more, and Chase Jennings is a very disturbed young man who should never have been let out of the mental institute. Thank you. I rest my case."

Hope was ready to pull her gun out and shoot person number two. But she held Aiden's hand tightly instead. She knew from the look on his face that they both needed each other to calm the other down.

Aiden squeezed her hand tightly, the hatred for Mr. Randall burning in his eyes.

Melinda was up next. "Ladies and Gentlemen of the jury, you've all heard the evidence, all of which is true. Why would Chase feel the need to make up something about someone who never did anything to him? Why would he go through the discomfort of having a friend beat him up, or go through the discomfort of starving himself for days? He wouldn't! It would make no sense! Hope certainly wouldn't lie under oath. It would risk losing her job for good this time, and if there's one thing I know about Hope, it's how much she loves her job. Kayla Johnson is a very respectable doctor who has not had a single screw up in all her years of being a doctor. She wouldn't risk throwing it all the way for a kid who once raped her niece. Nor would she help him unless she believed and knew that Chase was a victim this time. Hope certainly wouldn't lie for the kid who raped her daughter no matter _whom_ she's dating. And as for Aiden Jennings, we may be on opposite sides of the court room some times, but I can tell you that when it comes to his work, he is one of the most honest lawyers—so much so that he refuses to take any case on if he thinks his client is guilty. Right now he is just a man who wants justice for his son. Everyone with compassion wants that. In a world that is deteriorating every day with violence and murder, please don't add to it by letting one more abusive scumbag, for lack of better word, get off free. Don't let the victim feel like a monster. Don't let people be afraid to speak out when something bad has been done to them. Thank you. I rest my case."

"Thank you both. I will give the jury some time to decide. You will be notified when a decision is made. This court is now adjourned until further notice." Judge Matthew's banged his gavel.

"All rise!" the bailiff called out.

They all stood as the judge headed back to his chambers.

Aiden then walked over to Melinda. "Thank you for the kind words you said about me, and most importantly for helping my son." He held a hand out to her. "I appreciate it more than you know."

She smiled at him and shook his hand. "You're welcome. I'm just doing my job. I'm passionate about getting justice, and I have a good feeling that I will." She then went to attend to something else.

Aiden turned to Chase. "A stripper, Chase? Really? Why didn't you tell me?"

Chase blushed. "Because I didn't want you to judge me."

Aiden shook his head. "I don't understand why you would want to work in a degrading job like that when you could have a job at my law office. Why don't you go to school? You never got to go to college. You can do that and even go to law school! A strip club is a dead end job and it will get you nowhere."

Chase rolled his eyes. "This is exactly why I didn't tell you! I don't want to talk about it right now. I'm stressed enough as it is."

Hope gently placed a hand overtop of Aiden's shoulder. "He's right. Now is not the time or place," she said gently. "Let's just go get some lunch while we wait for the jury to make their decision."

Aiden looked at her, and then relaxed. He slowly nodded. "You hungry?" he asked, turning back to Chase.

Carol came over to them then. "After that trial, I know I am! Man the defense lawyer sure is a douche!"

Mr. Randall just happened to be walking by when she said that, and he shot her a dirty look.

"Well it's true!" Carol said, sticking her tongue out at him.

Chase laughed, the first time he had felt like laughing since the trial. "Let's go eat."

So they all headed out together, all of them nervous about what the verdict would be, but also all of them hungry, and needing something to distract themselves while they waited for the verdict to arrive.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

It took an hour, but finally, Melinda texted Chase that the verdict was in.

They had just finished their lunch and paid the bill.

Aiden left the tip, and then they all headed back to the courtroom.

Chase was shaking and nervous as he sat down.

"Don't worry," Melinda assured him."I'm pretty sure we got this in the bag."

Chase swallowed hard. "'Pretty sure' being the operative words."

They all rose for the judge and then sat back down.

"Will the defendant please rise," the judge requested.

Jeremiah rose.

"Ladies and Gentlemen of the jury, please give us the verdict," Judge Matthews ordered.

The head jury member stood up then. "We the people of the jury, in the state of Illinois find the defendant guilty of kidnapping Chase Jennings and guilty of the assault by drugging."

Chase let out a whoop, as did Aiden, and Hope was so happy for them.

Carol screamed out. "In your face, you scumbag!"

Judge Matthews banged his gavel. "Order in the court!" He turned his attention to Jeremiah. "Mr. Jackson, what you did was wrong, and I would have hoped that you would have at least owned up to it. Kidnapping and abuse of anyone is not tolerable in my court. Now I'm aware that this is a special case. You did kidnap him, but he willingly stayed with you. However, I know that was only because of the drugs. I am sentencing you to the minimum three years for kidnapping, and tacking on another year for drugging him against his will and abusing him. That will give you a total of four years in prison. You are to serve out your full term with no chance of parole. I would give you a stronger sentence, but I am hoping that at least some of those tears that you cried over your son were real. I know the pain of losing a son, and therefore I will have mercy on you. Kidnapping is wrong no matter what the circumstance, but your reasoning was noble for someone like you. I use that term noble very loosely in this case. Nevertheless, I know you did it for your son, even though it was still very wrong and still very illegal. I think your sons' death after all this is part punishment too. But see to it that after you get out of jail, you keep your nose clean. Otherwise I will personally see to it that you rot for the rest of your life in jail."

Jeremiah looked defeated, which he was. "Yes, Your Honor. Thank you, Your Honor."

"This court is adjourned," Judge Matthews said, banging his gavel.

Everyone stood for him to leave, and then the trial was over.

Jeremiah was led away by security with his head held low. He didn't even look Chase's way.

"Well, I'm not happy with only four years, but at least he's paying," Melinda said.

"He should have gotten much more, but I guess we should just be glad he won't get out early, and he won't get parole," Aiden said.

Melinda nodded.

Chase held his hand out to her. "Thank you."

"Thank you!" she said, shaking his hand. She smiled. "I live for putting the bad guys behind bars." She winked at him.

"Let's go out to celebrate, shall we?" Hope suggested with a grin once Melinda had left them.

Aiden nodded. "Yes, let's!"

Carol draped an arm over Chase's shoulders. "Well, maybe in a few hours. My food is still settling." She pat her stomach.

"If you don't mind, I'd like to go to Bridgette's for a while first anyway. I need some time to process all this," Chase said quietly. He was grateful it was all over and that Jeremiah was going to pay, but still… He needed some time alone. He had a key to Bridgette's, and he knew she'd still be at rehearsals.

"Take all the time you need, Son." Aiden said to him, giving him a hug.

"Thank you," Chase said quietly. "And Hope, thank you for your testimony. It meant a lot to me."

"No problem," she said softly. "Congratulations."

"Thanks," he said. Then, after hugging his family, he left the courtroom, feeling elated, but drained, and even a little sad. Maybe now, he hoped, he could finally truly and fully start to heal.


	74. S3E24

_**This Love…**_

 _ **Season 3 Episode 24: Words**_

A week had passed since the trial. Chase was finally starting to feel his normal self again. Aiden had been asking him to have lunch with him all week. He claimed he wanted to talk to him about something, but Chase had rehearsals, and then he wanted to spend time with Bridgette when they both had the day off. He had also been putting it off because he knew what Aiden wanted to talk about, and he hadn't wanted to talk about it. However, he finally gave in one day when Bridgette had rehearsals and he had nothing better to do.

They met at The Brady pub.

Aiden hugged Chase when Chase arrived. He had already gotten them a booth in the corner.

They placed their jackets on the seat beside them as they sat across from each other.

"So, what did you want to see me about?" Chase asked, bracing himself for it.

"Let's order first, shall we?" Aiden asked.

Chase nodded.

So, they looked over their menus, and then ordered cheese burgers and seasoned fries with Cokes to drink.

"So, what's up?" Chase asked once the waitress had left to put their orders in.

"About your job… I got you some pamphlets for Salem U and Boston University. Boston has a great program to get your undergraduate for law school."

Chase looked at the pamphlets and smirked. "I really don't want to go to college, Dad. I have a job. It pays me well. I don't need college. Even if I did, I don't care to be a lawyer. I'm not smart enough."

"Your grades are decent enough to get into college and you can improve them even more in college. You even have better grades than I had at times," Aiden assured him.

"As I said, I don't want to go to college, nor do I want to be a lawyer," Chase reiterated.

"Why not?" Aiden asked.

"Because I'm happy with my job. I like to dance!" Chase insisted.

"Why?" Aiden asked. "Why would you prefer taking your clothes off and dancing for a bunch of sex-starved women who do nothing but degrade you when you could be making good money the hard working honest way?"

Chase was offended. "Who says I don't work hard? You try swinging around on a pole and doing practically gymnastic type moves on top of a Harley. I can assure you, it's not easy to do."

Aiden nodded. "I'm sure it's not, but come on, Chase. It's a dead end job. No one's going to hear you're an exotic dancer and think highly of you."

Chase was suddenly annoyed. "Yeah, well, I don't care what people think of me anymore. I'm sick and tired of trying to please everyone. There comes a time when, as selfish as it may sound or seem, I need to think about myself. I'm happy being a dancer, and it's not degrading at all to me. The women who watch aren't bad people, Dad. They are just out looking for a good time like everyone else. They like my body. They pay me money for dancing, which tells me that they enjoy my body. If anything it's good for me because it helps my self esteem immensely. It's exhilarating, and I've never felt better."

Aiden shot him a look. "It's immoral and gross, Chase, parading your body around like that. It's not attractive for girls to do it, and it's certainly not attractive for guys to do it either."

"Yeah, well the money in my pocket the ladies were willing to dish out to me sure says they think otherwise," Chase said smartly, smirking at his father. His father was being ridiculous; just as Chase had known he would react.

Aiden sighed. "It's a dead end job, Chase. Exotic dancing isn't productive, nor is it looking to the future. I mean, what are you going to do when you hit your sixties and your body isn't young and youthful anymore? No one's going to want to see a wrinkly old body prancing around on a motorcycle or a sliding around on a pole. It may not be the nicest thing to say, but it's the way the world works nowadays. No strip joint is going to want you when you get older, no matter how good of a dancer you may be."

Chase looked his father angrily in the eyes. "In my sixties, I can retire. I won't be that age for a long time. Anyway, with the money I make I can afford some cosmetic surgery as needed."

"You're impossible," Aiden muttered.

"No, Dad, _you're_ impossible! Chase slid out of the booth and grabbed his coat, roughly putting it back on.

"Chase, what are you doing? Where are you going?" Aiden asked, looking pained.

"If you can't be reasonable about my career, Dad, then I don't have time for lunch with you."

"Chase, come on. Don't be like that! You're the one who isn't being reasonable! This job is only temporary. It's not going to be a long-term job!" Aiden insisted.

Chase narrowed his eyes at him. "I'm going to prove you wrong. You'll see."

"It's Bridgette, isn't it?" Aiden asked, suddenly angry now too. "She's the one filling your head with this 'exotic dancing is cool, isn't it?' crap!"

Chase had had enough. "Goodbye, Dad. Here's for my lunch and yours." He slapped down a fifty dollar bill. "Keep the change. I wouldn't have been able to pay this much if my job wasn't 'productive', would I?" he asked snootily before turning his back on his father and heading out the door, ignoring Aiden's calls for him to come back.

He got into his car with a huff. How dare he? It was bad enough that Aiden was insulting his job and trying to push his own choice of job on him. But to insult Bridgette too? He had crossed a line.

Chase sped off angrily. He now had no intention on seeing his father again until his father apologized, and frankly, he wasn't holding his breath.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

"Unbelievable!" Aiden snapped as he came through the house, angrily slamming the door behind him.

"Shh! I finally got the twins to sleep. If you wake them, you're going to be the one dealing with both of them!" Hope chastised. It was her day off, and Lucas' day off too—at least from watching the twins.

"I'm sorry," Aiden said, calming down a bit. He pulled her close and kissed her gently on the lips.

"I take it your lunch didn't go well with Chase?" Hope asked, an eyebrow raised.

Aiden shook his head. "I gave him the pamphlets for the universities and he just got angry and said he doesn't want to be a lawyer. I tried to talk him out of being an exotic dancer. I explained to him what a dead end job it was, and that when he is old and wrinkly no one is going to want to keep him employed as an exotic dancer, but he just wouldn't hear of it!"

Hope sighed. "Maybe you could have said it nicer." She gently stroked his hair. "What else did you say to him about it?"

"I told him that it was a degrading and a non-respectable job to have. I in so many words, told him his job was disgusting," Aiden said matter-of-factly.  
Hope whistled. "You know, for a lawyer, you sometimes don't have a very good way with words." She smirked. "Anything else?"

Aiden blushed. "I kind of maybe accused him of wanting to be an exotic dancer because Bridgette was making it look cool to him."

Hope nodded. "And there we go. Let me guess, he blew up at that."

Aiden nodded. "He didn't even stay for lunch even though we had already ordered. He slammed a fifty on the table for our lunches and told me that if his job was so unproductive, he wouldn't be able to pay that much."

Hope nodded. "Well, in all fairness, you're probably right about Bridgette. In fact, I know you are. If it weren't for her, he would have no interest whatsoever in exotic dancing."

Aiden nodded as well. "Thank you!"

"But!" Hope quickly added, "You probably shouldn't have brought it up to him."

"Why not?" Aiden asked huffily. "It's true."

"Maybe so, but you should know by now you can't tell a young adult anything. It only makes them act out," Hope said gently as she stroked his hair.

Aiden sighed. "I'm not apologizing to him. By apologizing to him it would be saying to him that I am wrong. I'm not wrong about this, Hope. I'm not!"

Hope smiled, and then kissed his cheek. "You don't have to apologize. Just give him some space, okay? Then maybe you can pretend like the conversation never happened."

"And just let him go on exotic dancing?" Aiden asked in surprise.

Hope shrugged. "You may not like it, but it's his life. If he stops, it has to be his decision and his alone; not yours. You're just going to push him away otherwise," she said wisely.

"I love you, Baby, but I just can't sit by and let him ruin his life like this," Aiden said stubbornly.

"Well, do what you gotta do, but don't say I didn't warn you." Hope took his face between her hands and kissed him softly on the lips. "Do you have to get back to work?" She gently wiped his lips with her thumbs.

"Unfortunately, yes. I have a meeting in a half hour." He kissed her hungrily on the lips. "I'll see you tonight though. Maybe we can just spend a night in. I'm not in the mood to go out." He did his best not to smirk when Hope's expression faltered.

"I thought we were going to at least do dinner," she said.

Aiden shrugged. "I'll bring something home. Do you want pizza or Chinese?"

Hope looked a little angry, but didn't say anything. "Get whatever you want. See you tonight." Her expression turned sad then, and she headed upstairs without even a goodbye kiss or a goodbye to him before doing so.

Aiden smiled once she had disappeared upstairs. She had thought he'd forgotten her birthday. Little did she know, he didn't even have to work today, and Carol was helping him with a massive surprise birthday party for her.

He headed out the door with a smirk on his face. He could hardly wait to see the look on her face when everyone jumped out and yelled, "Surprise!" He was sure it would turn his so far crappy day into a good one.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

The party was at Chez Rouge. Aiden had reserved the whole restaurant for the night, complete with catering. Everyone Hope loved was going to be there. Doug, Julie, Carol, Casey, Shawn, Ciara, the twins, Lucas, Eric, Jen, JJ, Abigail, Chad, Kayla and Steve, Maggie, and Victor were all going to be there just to name a few.

Aiden called Hope from Chez Rough on his cell phone once everything was set up that evening.

"Hello?" she called out, hope in her voice.

Aiden smiled. He knew she was hoping he finally remembered her birthday. "Baby, I am _so_ sorry, but I can't make dinner tonight. One of my clients is having a break down over his impending divorce. He said he wants to kill himself. I can't leave him alone."

Hope sounded upset. "Doesn't he have family or friends you can bring him to? I'm not trying to sound heartless, but being a psychiatrist isn't part of your job description."

Hope usually wasn't so unsympathetic, but Aiden knew she was mainly just upset because she felt he had forgotten her birthday, and now she would be all alone on her birthday with no one but their two babies to share it with.

"Baby, he's all alone, and he just wants to stay and talk. I thought of bringing him over, but he doesn't want to be around other people, let alone a happily together couple. You understand, right?" Aiden felt horrible lying about a suicidal client. After all, suicide wasn't something to make light of at all. But at the moment, that was the only excuse he could think of that she would buy without it becoming suspicious. He didn't want her thinking again that he was having an affair. Sure she had been hormonal when she had thought he and his secretary were having an affair, but he wasn't taking any chances this time around just in case.

Hope sighed. "I guess. Just hurry home as soon as you're able to calm him, all right?"

"I will. I love you, Baby."

"I love you too." Hope hung up the phone.

Aiden clicked off the phone and turned to Jennifer. "She's crushed, and I don't want her to be crushed—especially not on her birthday—so…"

Jennifer nodded. "I'll get right on it." She dialed Hope's number.

"Hope! Happy Birthday!"

"Thanks," Hope said from the other end of the line. "At least _someone_ remembers it. Aiden seems to have forgotten. Ciara called me in the morning to wish me happy birthday, but she seemed rushed. I'm still waiting on Shawn's call. And of course the twins can't talk. Carol didn't call. She must have forgotten too." She sounded upset.

"Well, I was actually calling to see if I could take you out to dinner tomorrow. I figured Aiden would have plans for you tonight. Otherwise I'd invite you tonight," Jennifer replied.

"Aiden actually just called me and said he has to stay at work with a suicidal client of all things. Of all nights too! I don't mean to be heartless. I feel bad for the guy, and I know his life is more important than my birthday. Still, I don't want to spend it alone. Is that selfish of me, Cous?" Hope asked, sounding worried.

"Not at all! Get dressed in something nice. I want to take you to Chez Rouge for your birthday—my treat." Jen said cheerily.

"I have the twins," Hope informed her.

"They can come with us!" Jen insisted. "They're good babies, and if Aunt Maggie is there tonight, which she usually is, I know she'd love to see them."

"You really don't mind?" Hope asked her.

"Are you kidding me? Why would I mind? I'd love to take my cousin out for her birthday!" Jennifer insisted.

"What about Eric?" Hope asked.

"He's staying home watching the game tonight with his dad. He'll never even know I'm even gone," Jen teased.

Hope laughed.

"I think they already ordered a pizza and wings in anyway," Jen added.

"If you're sure," Hope replied.

"I'll pick you up in a half hour. Be ready!" Jen ordered.

"Okay. Thank you so much for this, Cous."

"Don't mention it. Now go!"

Hope laughed. "I'm going, I'm going!" She clicked off the phone.

Jennifer clicked her phone off and smiled at Aiden. "Everything's a go!"

Aiden grinned back at her.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

"Thank you so much again for this, Cous. I really needed this night out. I'm just so hurt Aiden forgot my birthday," Hope said as they headed into the restaurant forty-five minutes later.

"I'm sure he'll remember eventually. Then you can give him hell for taking so long to remember," Jennifer assured her.

Hope grinned. "True."

They entered the restaurant.

"Why is this place empty? There were a ton of cars in the parking lot," Hope stated, her cop instinct starting to worry that something was wrong.

Suddenly, everyone jumped out and yelled surprise at her. Some had been crouched behind the bar, some were even under tables, and some were in the kitchen.

Hope put a hand to her heart in surprise, and Haiden started giggling. Maddie had been startled by all the yelling and had started to cry, but the sound of her brother giggling suddenly made her stop crying and start giggling too.

Hope laughed because her twins were laughing, and soon everyone was laughing.

"You guys! Are you responsible for this surprise?" Hope asked, turning to Jennifer.

Jennifer smiled. "Partly. But it was all Aiden's idea. I just helped."

Hope looked over at the sound of Aiden clearing his throat.

She smiled at him when she saw him grinning so brightly at her that his dimples showed.

"Did you actually think I'd forget your birthday, Baby?" he asked her.

"I didn't think it was like you to forget, but you didn't mention anything, so I was beginning to wonder if you had," Hope confessed.

Aiden gently stroked her hair away from her face. "I'd never forget your birthday, my love. How could I ever forget the day my soul mate was born?"

Everyone awed, and Hope had tears in her eyes.

They lovingly kissed, both feeling incredibly lucky to have the other.

"Happy Birthday, Mom!" Ciara said, coming over to her.

"Happy Birthday!" Shawn chimed in.

Claire wished Hope birthday wishes as she appeared.

They all took turns hugging Hope.

Carol and Casey were next.

"Jake says Happy Birthday. He wanted to come, but _somebody_ wouldn't allow him." he glanced at Maggie.

"Oh, hush!" Maggies said to him, walking over to hug Hope tightly. "No dogs allowed. I can't bend the rules even for friends and family. Otherwise the board of health would get wind of it and I'd be written up. Now, if you can get him signed up to be a therapy dog, then we can talk." She then turned her attention to Hope. "Happy Birthday! You get more gorgeous every year."

Hope grinned. "You're too kind, Aunt Maggie."

It was another five minutes by the time Hope got her hugs and birthday wishes from Doug, Julie, and other friends and family.

Then, Aiden walked over to her again. "I wanted to make sure someone very special was able to attend your birthday," he said to her.

She raised an eyebrow. "Who?" She looked around and didn't see anyone out of the ordinary.

"It's someone you haven't seen in a long time, and they are waiting in the kitchen for you," Aiden said to her.

Hope headed over to and into the kitchen, and everyone waited in silence. Then they heard her scream with delight.

Hope had happy tears in her eyes. "Caroline!" she hugged her tightly. "I missed you so much! How's California been treating you? Are you sure you're okay to travel?"

Caroline grinned. "Of course I am! I wouldn't be here if I wasn't." She grinned. "I'm not dead yet!" She moved her right hand from her forehead to her chest, and then from her left to right shoulder. "Wild horses couldn't drag me away from seeing my daughter-in-law. Actually, scratch the in-law part. You're my _daughter_ as far as I'm concerned!"

Hope cried again, though still happy tears. She pulled her in for another hug.

"It was so nice of Aiden to make sure I got here safely. He is paid for my round-trip ticket here and he even hired a nurse to travel with me. She didn't want to intrude on the party, so she is back at her room in the pub," Caroline explained.

"Aw. She could have come! Come on! I want everyone else to see you," Hope said.

"We've already seen each other, but I am getting hungry," Caroline said as Hope led her out into the dining area. "Aiden hired a caterer too, you know."

Hope laughed. "We'll get you something to eat then."

Everyone cheered when they appeared, even though, as Caroline had said, they had seen her earlier. More hugs were exchanged.

Hope then ran to Aiden, embraced him, and kissed him with all the passion she had in her. "Thank you," she said with a smile as she wrapped her arms around him and rested her forehead against his. "That is one of the best gifts you ever could have given me."

"You're so welcome, My Love. I'd do anything to make you happy," Aiden replied, the love he had for her showing so clearly in his eyes.

Hope kissed him again, and then took his hand, and led him back over to their friends and family. It was already shaping up to be a fantastic birthday.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

It was a fun night of dinner, dancing, and socializing. When the cake came out it was a beautiful sheet cake that was chocolate with chocolate frosting. Written over the cake was _Happy 57_ _th_ _Birthday Hope! Forever Young and Forever Beautiful._ It was written in red, her favorite color.

"Mm! Delicious!" Hope said as she ate the cake. "You sure know the way to my heart!"

Aiden smiled at her, and they kissed.

"Mm, your chocolate kiss is even better than a Hershey's chocolate kiss!" he teased as he licked his lips after.

She grinned, and nuzzled her nose against his.

"Attention everyone! I have a special song I would like to sing for my beautiful daughter on her 57th Birthday," Doug announced.

"Daddy, please stop mentioning my age!" Hope whined. But she smiled; eager to hear her father sing. She never tired of hearing him sing, and was very grateful that she still had him there to sing. She knew that sadly, she wouldn't be as blessed much longer. Thank God he was still healthy, but he was going to be 94 in June. He was getting up there in age.

"You only get more beautiful with age. Age aint nothing but a number," he assured her.

The pianist began to play then, and he sang a song that, to her surprise, he had written just for her. It was a beautiful song about having the best daughter on earth, who got more and more beautiful with every day that passed, just as his love for her grew with each year.

"Another year of life, another year of beauty. With a daughter like you, there's no feeling of strife. No matter how old you get, you'll still always be, daddy's little cutie…"

Hope had tears in her eyes and she smiled big. The song was sweet, though incredibly corny at times. But to her, it was the most beautiful song she had ever heard because it came from her father's heart. She couldn't ask for anything more special.

She got up and ran to him when he finished, and together they just held each other for a long time. "I love you, Daddy," she whispered. "Thank you for the song. I love it!" She kissed his cheek.

"And I love you, my sweet child. I meant every word of it!" He kissed her forehead with a loud, Muah! sound.

The next hour was spent opening presents. When Aiden handed her a small box, her heart pounded. This was it. He was going to propose to her at her party. That is why he had waited so long to propose to her, she figured. He wanted to do it in front of everybody!

She smiled. "You didn't have to get me anything. The party was my gift," she said to him.

He shook his head and made a face. "Don't be silly, Baby. A party's not a gift."

"Caroline was my gift," she tried again.

"No, _that_ is your gift!" Aiden said, nodding toward the box.

Hope noticed the box was a little big for an engagement ring, but then, Aiden was clever. He was probably just trying to fool her into thinking it wasn't a ring, she figured.

She opened the box, and tried not to let the look of disappointment show on her face. It was a beautiful heart-shaped garnet necklace surrounded by diamonds. It was stunning, and she was still thrilled with it. She was only upset because it wasn't the engagement ring she had been hoping for.

"It's a platinum chain and the garnet—your birthstone—is .80 carats in weight. The diamonds equal up to 1.92 carats.

Hope stood up from her chair and kissed him. "It is so beautiful, Aiden! You spent too much."

"Baby, how many times do I have to tell you, nothing is too much for the love of my life?" He took it from her and she held her hair up as he placed it around her neck. "It's even more beautiful on you."

"He's smooth, I have to admit!" Doug said.

Hope grinned at her father. "The smoothest!" She then kissed Aiden in such a way it made him blush, and then grin.

"I'm glad you like it!" he said.

"I love it!" She said, kissing him once more.

After all the gifts were opened, people finally started to leave.

Caroline was staying in the Brady Pub. Kayla had wanted her to stay with her and Steve, but Caroline wanted to be at her own Salem home for the night. She was staying two nights, and Hope made plans with her to do lunch and shopping the next after noon together with Ciara, Claire, Jen, and Kayla the next day. Roman, Shawn, Steve, Aiden, and Eric would join them all for dinner that night.

Then, after hugging Maggie goodbye and thanking her for being such a gracious hostess, and after hugging and wishing thank yous and goodbyes to the remaining few guests, Hope left with Aiden and the twins. She had offered to help clean up, but Aiden, having thought of everything, had even hired a cleaning crew.

"Thank you for such a beautiful night," Hope said looking over at him as he drove.

"Did you enjoy it?" Aiden asked her.

"Very much so!" she said.

"I'm glad. And you're welcome. But the night's not over yet. We're going to drop the twins back home where Ciara and Shawn will be staying. You'll pack an overnight bag, and then we will head over to our rooftop apartment to spend a romantic night together there just the two of us," Aiden announced. "My overnight bag is already there."

Hope looked over at him again. "You're too good to me."

He quickly glanced at her. "Nothing's too good for my baby."

She kissed his cheek, and then smiled as she sat back in her seat happily.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

"I've been up here so many times, and the view still never ceases to amaze me," Hope said as she looked out the wall-length window at the city below.

Aiden held her from behind. "It's still not as beautiful as the view of you that I get every day."

Hope smiled. "Always the smooth-talker."

"When it comes to my love for you, I only state the truth," he said simply.

Hope turned around and kissed him. "Wanna get in the hot tub?"

"I'll run the water," he said in response.

He ran the water and made sure it was the perfect temperature. Once it was to his liking, he

walked back over to Hope, and let out an audible gasp as he saw her lying naked on the bed, her head propped on her hand. She was sprawled out on her side facing him and waiting for him.

She raised an eyebrow. "Think you'll have time to make love to me before the tub overflows?"

Aiden began removing his tie. "I'm sure as hell going to try!"

She grinned. "Let me help you with that." She got onto her knees on the bed, and he walked

over to her.  
She helped him undress.

They began kissing heatedly, and once they had him fully undressed, he laid her back on the bed

and began to make love to her.

She wrapped her legs around his waist, and let him show her exactly how much he loved her,

and in turn, she made sure to show him exactly how much she loved him. When it was over, they continued to kiss passionately. He broke their kisses only to get out of bed and carry her over to the tub. He gently set her down in it, and then shut off the water, and got in with her.

He turned on the jets and grinned at her. "I knew we could do it!"

She smiled, and pulled him closer. "After this, I wanna do it again, only this time, I want to savor you." She kissed slowly down his neck.

He closed his eyes and moaned gently. "Trust me, Baby; there is nothing more I want than to savor you as well."

They spent most of the time just relaxing in each other's arms and telling each other about their day pre-party. They talked about the party, and about how nice it was to see that Caroline was getting much better with her memory.

"It's amazing what drugs are out there to help people nowadays," Aiden commented.

Hope nodded. "It just sucks getting old. I don't want to even think about losing Daddy or Caroline." She started to get a little teary-eyed.

"Hey. No tears on your birthday unless they are happy tears, all right?" Aiden asked her gently.

She smiled at him and nodded.

"They're both in good health, and Lord willing they will stay that way for a long while. So don't worry, all right?" He smiled at her.

She nodded gently, and smiled weakly. "It's getting a little hot in here."

So, they got out of the tub and turned of the jets before draining the tub.

Aiden then carried her back to bed after they had both gone to the bathroom and brushed their teeth.

"I hope no one can see us from the other buildings," Hope said shyly.

Aiden smiled. "I don't think they could. They aren't that close. But even if they do, so what? Let them see what a smoking hot girlfriend I have. They'll be jealous that they don't have such a beautiful woman to make love to."

Hope smiled. "Or such a handsome man to be made love to by."

They kissed, and soon, their kisses turned into love making.

Hope sighed contently as she lay in Aiden's arms later that night. Aiden was already sleeping. She kissed his bare chest. She had hoped he would propose tonight, but he hadn't. She was beginning to wonder if he ever would. But she wasn't going to let it ruin her night. Other than his lack of proposal, tonight had been perfect, and as she lay in his arms that night just about to drift off to sleep, she had never felt more peaceful in her life.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

"Tell me again why we have to stop at Father Lewis's office?" Hope asked. They had stopped there on the way to dinner. It was a date night for them. Lucas was watching the twins for them.

"Because Chase needs his forms picked up for his taxes," Aiden explained again.

"For one, Chase didn't work here long enough to have to file taxes for working here, and anyway, was he even being paid enough to have to file? Anyway, why can't Chase just pick them up himself?" Hope was feeling a little grumpy. She had Aiden had agreed on a year of dating before he would propose again. It had been almost a year and a month, and he still hadn't proposed, despite the fact that he had had plenty of perfect opportunities to do so.

"I don't know, Hope. He was working I guess. I'm just going by what he told me." Aiden sounded just as annoyed as she was. "It's the first time he has spoken to me since the fight, so I'm going with it." He knocked on Father Lewis' door, but no one answered so he opened the door himself.

"Aiden, you can't just walk right in," Hope chastised.

"I can if it's unlocked. Besides, he told me that I could go in and get the papers if he wasn't in his office. He said he'd leave them on his desk." Aiden walked in.

Hope sighed, and followed in after him. She was hungry, and she was still annoyed. He wasn't even taking her somewhere special tonight, which meant he wasn't going to propose tonight either. It wasn't that she hadn't loved her birthday necklace. She did. It was the most beautiful piece of jewelry she owned. But she wanted the most beautiful piece of jewelry she owned to be on her left ring finger, and right now, there was nothing on her left ring finger other than a tiny paper cut.

Aiden looked through the papers on Father Lewis' desk. "It's not here."

"Well, then Chase is just going to have to call him himself! Let's go. I am starving," Hope grumbled. She wasn't in the mood for a wild goose chase.

"Hope, stop being such a witch!" Aiden snapped.

Hope whipped around to face him. "Excuse me?" She raised an eyebrow, her eyes shooting him death daggers that dared him to repeat himself.

"I said, stop being such a witch! All you've been doing lately is complaining, and I'm tired of it! Fine, we'll go, and Chase won't have his papers. But I'm telling him it's your fault!" Aiden snapped.

"Fine! Tell him it's my fault! See if I care! Oh my gosh, Aiden, what are you, five? 'It's her fault!'" She put on a whiny voice as she mocked him.

"You're hungry. That's why you're being such a snot. Let's just go get a pizza at Pete's so you can shut up and stop acting this way!" Aiden snapped.

Hope narrowed her eyes at him. "You know, you can take your Pete's pizza and shove it up your…butt!" She had suddenly remembered she was in a priest's office in a church, so she hadn't sworn even though she wanted to call Aiden every swear word in the book.

"What is your problem, Hope? Seriously?" Aiden snapped.

Hope laughed bitterly. "What's my problem? My problem, Aiden, is that you said you were going to propose to me in a year, yet it's been over a year and there is no proposal in sight! I'm beginning to think you no longer want to marry me. You had so many perfect opportunities to propose to me and you missed all of them. You could have proposed in New York, but you didn't. The carriage ride would have been a great time. Or even at the restaurant as we rotated around, but you didn't! You could have proposed on Christmas Eve, but no. You could have proposed Christmas Day, which would have been exactly a year after we got back together officially, but you didn't. Then there was New Years Eve and New Years Day—both would have been great days to propose, but no. You gave me nothing!" Hope took a moment to catch her breath. "I really thought you were going to propose at my birthday party, but yet again, I was disappointed. "I love the necklace, and I'm so thankful for it, but I wanted a ring, Darn it!" she stomped her foot. "And now you're not even taking me to a nice restaurant so I know you won't be proposing tonight either!" She crossed her arms and scowled.

Aiden smirked. "Who's acting like they're five now?"

Hope glared at him, and then walked past him to the door. "I'll Uber home. You can enjoy Pete's by yourself!"

"Do you know what day it is, Hope?" Aiden called out without looking back at her.

Hope stopped in the doorway. "No, Aiden, I don't know what day it is. I'm too angry right now to think!" she snapped.

Aiden turned to her and smiled. "It's January the twenty second. We met on this same exact day in this very place six years ago."

Hope's expression looked a little less angry. "How do you remember that?"

"Like I'd ever forget the day I met my soul mate!" He grinned. "Our history has been rewritten so many times that I figured we might as well start fresh, and take it back to where it all began to rewrite it back to the way it should be. That's why I picked a fight with you. We were fighting on this very day and this very place. I think we were just trying to fight the attraction we had for each other."

Hope walked closer to him. "You were such a jerk!" She grinned. "But a handsome jerk. A sexy jerk even…"

Aiden grinned too. "And you were the most beautiful woman I ever laid eyes on. I know I was hired to make you fall in love with me, but I wasn't hired to fall in love with you. I didn't want to fall in love again. My wife had been killed and it had been a bad marriage to begin with. No way did I want to fall in love again! But then I saw you and I knew that like it or not, I had no choice in the matter. I was going to fall for you harder than I've ever fallen for anyone in my life. I knew it instantly, and I was right. Now, here we are six years later, and I've never been more in love with you than I am at this moment."

Hope had tears in her eyes. "I don't want us to ever end, Aiden. I love you too—so much I feel my heart might burst!"

"It better not. After all, I need you to say yes." Aiden smiled, revealing his dimples that Hope loved so much. He then got down on one knee and pulled the box out of his pocket. He then opened the box, revealing the ring that Hope had waited so long to see.

Happy tears were streaming down her face, and she covered her mouth.

"Hope Williams Brady, will you do me the great honor of becoming my wife and marry me?" He grinned. "I need my Mrs. Jennings back. And I don't mean my mother!"

Hope gently laughed at his joke, and then she nodded. "Yes. Of _course_ I'll be your wife! Of course I'll marry you! She pulled him closer and rested her forehead against his. "And of _course_ I'll be your Mrs. Jennings! And I don't mean your mother."

Aiden laughed, and then he slipped the ring on her waiting left ring finger. "You've just made me so happy!" he said, tears of happiness in his own eyes now.

" _You_? You've just made me the happiest I've been since Bo came back after I thought he had abandoned me!" Hope pulled him close and kissed him passionately. She then rested he forehead against his again. "Not that I should be bringing up another man when you just proposed to me." She blushed. "I'm sorry."

Aiden gently stroked her hair. "You don't ever have to apologize for loving Bo, or for him having made you happy. He was your other soul mate. Your _first_ soul mate. I'm just lucky enough to be your _last_ soul mate. I'm not trying to replace Bo because I know I never could. I'm just trying to love as Aiden Jennings—the man who never loved any one the way I love you, and the man who never _will_ love anyone the way I love you."

Hope kissed him again. "You're my _forever_ soul mate," she said to him. "Some women are lucky if they get one soul mate. I was lucky enough to get two."

They grinned at each other, and then kissed some more.

Aiden was going to respond verbally, but then decided just to kiss her some more. After all, sometimes there were better ways of communicating than words.


	75. S3E25

_**This Love…**_

 _ **Season 3 Episode 25: The Tuning of Violins**_

"Is this a different ring than the one you offered me before?" Hope asked as she admired her ring for what felt like the hundredth time. She and Aiden were at home in the living room, sitting on the couch and waiting for Shawn to arrive so that they could tell him the big news. "It's even more stunning than I remember it to be!" It was a square-cut purple sapphire surrounded by two lines of diamonds, and the band itself was made of two lines of diamonds. The sapphire was just the right size. It was large enough to be impressive without it being so large that it was obnoxious.

Aiden nodded. "The more I looked at the other one I bought you last year, the more I didn't like it. It looked too juvenile, and not romantic enough."

"I don't even remember exactly what it looked like," Hope admitted.

Aiden nodded. "I made the right decision then. It didn't leave a lasting impression on you."

Hope blushed. "I have a confession to make."

Aiden smirked. "What's that?"

Hope looked at him guiltily. "Part of the reason I was so grumpy that night you proposed is because I was doing your laundry, and the return receipt for the ring fell out of one of your pants pockets. Between seeing that, and you not having proposed in over a year later, it made me think you had changed your mind about wanting to marry me again."

"I guess it's a good thing I put the receipt for the new ring in my wallet then, huh?" He smiled and winked at her. "That's what you get for being nosy!"

Hope gasped. "I was not being nosy! I just happened to come across it."

"And you felt the need to read what it was?" Aiden asked, a smirk playing at the corner of his lips. He was only teasing her of course.

Hope playfully swatted his chest. "Shut up!" she grinned. "This looks so expensive. You really didn't have to spend that much money on me. I'm just happy to be your soon-to-be wife."

"When are you going to learn that nothing is too good for my baby?" He took her left hand and kissed her left ring finger above the ring. "I hope you don't mind that I stuck with purple. I don't want to weird you out by getting one so close to the ring I bought you when we got engaged the first time. I just really love purple on you. I don't wanna bring back any bad memories."

Hope shook her head. "Honestly, I loved the purple, and I did miss the ring. I don't even know what ended up happening to it. I just wanted it off after I thought you had tried to kill me. I took it off and it was never seen again."

"That's not a memory I wanted brought up." Aiden looked away. He wondered if he would ever escape his past mistakes. Though, it seemed like a major understatement to call them mistakes, he knew. That made him feel even guiltier.

Hope turned his cheek to face her. "Hey. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bring that up."

Aiden shook his head. "No. You have a right to. If it hadn't been for me and my weakness back then….and my gambling debt…and my cowardliness…"

"You made a mistake, yes. But you only did it because you thought André e would have your son killed. And, you ended up not being able to go through with it. You didn't know Andre had a doppelganger ready to kidnap you and kill me." She smiled. "Even Andre knew you wouldn't be able to do it."

"It's a good thing too." Aiden pulled her closer. "Because my Love is feisty and can defend herself like no other! I'd be six-feet under had I tried to go through with it. Which is exactly where I would deserve to be."

Hope kissed him. "Lucky for the both of us, you didn't and you aren't."

They kissed.

Hope broke the kiss. "We'll have to set a wedding date ASAP! I've already waited long enough to get proposed to." She grinned at Aiden.

"Actually, I already have a wedding date in mind. And a location," Aiden said with a blush.

"Okay." Hope raised an eyebrow. "When and wear?"

"I was thinking that it could be on the anniversary of one of our most memorable nights. If I'm remembering correctly, I think it may have been our first time spending the night together. It was on Earth Day. So, I was thinking maybe we could have a rooftop garden wedding on Earth Day," Aiden suggested. "It only gives us just over three months to plan, but I think we can pull it off with Carol's help. She's great at party planning."

Hope smiled big. "I can't think of a better or more romantic day and location!"

Aiden grinned. "Yes?"

"Yes!" Hope took his face between her hands and kissed him softly on the lips. "I can't wait to be your wife."

"And I can't wait to be your husband," he told her.

They kissed again.

"Where should we go for our honeymoon?" Hope asked.

"I picked the wedding date and location. You can pick the honeymoon," he said to her as he gently stroked her hair.

"Well, I always wanted to go to Rome or Venice. Anywhere in Italy actually," she confessed. She moved on the couch so that she was sitting facing him. "Where would _you_ like to go?"

"I always wanted to go to Bora, Bora. A colleague of mine from years ago used to go there every year and always had pictures and stories to tell. It both looks and sounds amazing. We could even go on to Paris after that," Aiden suggested. "We could take a couple of weeks and explore it all. I can have one of my associates take over while I'm gone. Jason always does such a fantastic job. None of my clients ever complain about him when he has to take over their case. Do you think you could get the time off work?" He continued stroking her hair.

She nodded. "As long as I have enough notice, I'm sure I could swing it. But what about the twins? Do you think they'd be okay away from us for two weeks?"

Aiden thought about it. "Well, they'll be seven months by then—almost eight months. I think they'll be fine. Between Shawn and Lucas, we'll know they are safe and well taken care of. Kayla can be on hand too if they, Heaven forbid, need any medical attention."

Hope smiled. "We can ask Shawn if he'd mind." Hope took out her phone and looked at the calendar. "Earth Day is on a Wednesday. It will be kind of an odd day of the week for a wedding, but oh well. I want to keep the guest list small if that's okay with you."

Aiden nodded. "Who do I know to invite anyway?"

Hope smirked. "Your colleges and Tiffany. Maybe some of your best clients."

Aiden nodded. "True. Even so, small is good. Less money will be needed for the reception and we can spend on our honeymoon what we saved on the reception."

Hope nodded. "I like the way you think! We can leave on a later flight that Saturday. My gosh it's going to be a lot of flying. We'll be on a plane for at least twenty hours just to get to Bora, Bora!"

"Maybe Victor would let us borrow the Titan jet as our wedding present," Aiden suggested.

Hope looked at him. "You know, that's not a bad idea! That is if he doesn't need it for two weeks. I'll talk to him. We could leave on Saturday the 25th, and come back on May the 6th, which is a Sunday," Hope suggested.

Just then, Shawn arrived. He came right in, knowing that they were expecting him. It would feel odd to knock at his old childhood home anyway.

"Hey, Shawn!" Aiden said friendlily.

"Hi, baby. How was work today?" Hope asked.

"Hey. It was all right. Kind of a slow day, though that's a good thing in our line of work." He plopped himself down in the chair beside the couch. "So, what's up? What did you guys want to talk to me about?" He kind of had an idea, but one never knew with those two.

"Hold on a minute. I want to get your sister on Face Time. She's expecting my call," Hope said. She took out her phone and dialed Ciara's number.

"What's up?" Ciara answered after the second ring, her pretty face showing up on the screen.

"Aiden and I have an announcement to make," Hope said to her, her smile big.

"Oh gosh, Mom! Please don't tell me you're pregnant again. You're too old!" Ciara griped.

Hope laughed. "Don't be silly!"

Ciara grinned. "You're finally engaged, aren't you?"

Hope's face fell. "I wanted to be the one to tell you."

"Nice going, Ciara!" Shawn called out.

Ciara looked guilty. "Sorry, Mom. Congrats! Let me see the ring."

Hope flashed it for her, giving her time to observe it before she showed it to Shawn.

"That's gorgeous. It's like the 2.0 version of the one he gave you originally," Ciara quipped.

"I know it's similar, but your mom and I both loved the old one. Just not the memories that went with it. So I kept it similar, all the while changing it up a bit," Aiden explained.

"It's gorgeous, but there better not be a replay of last time. If you do anything—anything at all—to try and hurt my mother, I will personally castrate you myself and hang your kahonas up on my dashboard," Ciara warned.

"Ciara Alice Brady, don't be disgusting!" Hope warned.

"Definitely not a picture I wanted painted in my head," Shawn stated.

Ciara shrugged. "I just thought he deserved a fair warning. "I know how to do it, too. I learned how to neuter a dog. It won't be much different other than I won't give Aiden the anesthesia first."

"You won't have to worry about that, Ciara." Aiden placed an arm around her mother. "I will never, **ever** do that again. Nor will I try to steal your inheritance. In fact, I'm even willing to sign a prenup as a gesture of good will," Aiden assured her.

"There will be no need for that," Hope assured him.

Ciara shrugged. "I would, Mom."

"Ciara," Hope warned.

Again, Ciara shrugged. "What? It could be protecting him from you too, so it's not a total diss to him." She grinned.

"Well, there won't be a divorce, so there will be no need for one. Nor will there be an annulment." Hope was firm on that.

"Let's give them the benefit of the doubt, Ciara," Shawn said gently.

Ciara nodded. "All right, all right. Congrats, guys. I'm really happy for you."

"Do you mean it?" Hope asked.

"Of course! I see how happy he makes you," Ciara said sincerely.

Hope smiled. "Thank you, Baby."

"Well, I have to get back," Ciara informed them then. "I have a class in a few. Do you have a wedding date set yet?"

"April 22nd—Earth Day," Aiden answered for Hope.

"That's cool. Any special reason why you picked that day?" Ciara asked.

Hope took Aiden's hand in hers and smiled at him before turning her attention back to Ciara. "We have a personal reason for loving that day."

"Something I'd be disgusted to know about?" Ciara quipped with a smirk.

Aiden nodded. "Most definitely."

Ciara made a face. "I'll just take your word for it then. I'll keep in touch."

"You _will_ be my maid of honor, won't you?" Hope asked her.

Ciara rolled her eyes. "Duh!"

Hope grinned. "Talk to you soon!"

They then ended the call.

"Congrats, Man. Really. But you better not hurt my mother. Otherwise, Ciara may just have an accomplice!" Shawn said, standing up to shake Aiden's hand.

Aiden laughed, and stood up as well as he shook Shawn's hand. "I have no doubt!" He then turned serious. "I hope you understand, Chase is going to be my best man, but I would still like you to be part of the wedding if you'd like to be a groom's man of mine."

Shawn slowly nodded. "I think it would be weird for me to be your best man anyway. And, sure. I'd love to be a groom's man! Since you don't have many friends to do it." He grinned. "I've gotta joke to prevent this from being too mushy. I'm warming up to you, but I still need time to fully embrace you, you know?"

Aiden nodded. "Perfectly understandable. Thank you for agreeing to be a groom's man. And you're right. It's not why I asked you, but I probably will have a hard time without you helping to fill one of the spots." He winked at him.

Shawn smiled, and shook his hand again. "I'm honored to be asked. Thanks again."

They said their goodbyes, and then Shawn left.

"I gotta call Carol and Casey and tell them. I also want Casey to be a groom's man. And Lucas too of course! Three oughtta be enough, don't you think?" Aiden looked at Hope for her opinion.

Hope nodded. "And I want Carol to be a bride's maid. But first…" She held him close and murmured in his ear, "I wanna go practice for our wedding night."

Aiden smiled at her. "I do think a continued engagement celebration is in order."

"Exactly," Hope said, bringing her lips to his.

He then picked her up and carried her upstairs to the bedroom. The invites could wait.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

Chase smiled as he finished the finishing touches in his room. Bridgette was busy cooking them dinner in the kitchen of the condo. Carol was spending the night at Casey's, so they had the condo all to themselves for the night.

When he came out of the room, he saw that the table was all set, complete with a candle in the middle of the table. She had made them salads with Ranch dressing, mango chicken, green beans, mashed potatoes with butter and gravy, and dinner rolls and butter. To drink, she had Pepsi.

"I hope you don't mind that I didn't get any wine. I just don't really like drinking. My step dad did it so often that it turned me off from it. I know it doesn't mean I have to abuse it like he did, but I'm just more comfortable steering clear of it for the most part. I don't mind a drink here and there, but I didn't want any part of our night to be ruined by alcohol," she explained with a blush.

Chase shook his head. "I've never much liked the taste of alcohol anyway." He kissed her cheek. "Dinner looks delicious. Thank you for making it for us." He held out her chair for her and she sat down in it before he pushed her chair back in and took his own seat.

She smiled. "Thank you for letting me cook in your kitchen!"

They then dug in.

Chase closed his eyes as he savored the mango chicken. "Mm! I never had mango chicken before. This is delicious!"

Bridgette grinned. "Really? You're not just saying that?"

Chase shook his head. "Not at al!" he said sincerely.

"I'm glad. I was afraid it wouldn't come out right since it was my first time making it. I just wanted to make something that sounded special and unique. Not the same ol', same ol', you know?"

Chase nodded. "It's perfect!"

They made small talk then, talking about their day, their rehearsal, and of course their clients.

"One lady tried to pay me extra to strip fully for her lap dance. The lady was ninety-five years old!" Chase exclaimed. He shook his head in disbelief. "What a dirty old lady."

Bridgette grinned mischievously. "Did you take the deal?"

Chase looked at her funny. "What? Ew! No way!" He then had a mischievous grin of his own. "Not even when she flashed me her saggy old boobs."

Bridgette gasped. "She did not!"

Chase nodded. "She did! I nearly vomited."

"What did you say?" Bridgette asked with a laugh.

Chase took a bite of his salad before answering. "I just told her that I had a girlfriend, and that that wasn't appropriate. She told me she wouldn't tell if I didn't. I politely declined."

Bridgette laughed. "That is too funny! Why didn't you tell me this before?"

Chase blushed. "I was embarrassed.

Bridgette laughed. Suddenly, she got a text. She blushed. "I'm sorry. I should have turned it off."

Chase nodded at her phone. "Don't be. You can check it. I don't mind."

"Thanks." She smiled, and then looked at her text.

"Who is it from?" Chase asked.

She looked at him. "Just Jessica," she replied, referring to her fellow dancer. "She wants to meet me for lunch tomorrow."

"Cool. I have practice before yours anyway," Chase quipped.

Bridgette put her phone on vibrate, and then plopped it into her purse, before going back to eating her dinner.

They had a nice conversation, and when she brought out the pie after Chase had cleared the dishes (which he had insisted she didn't help him with since she had done the cooking), she brought out a cherry pie for dessert.

"Did you bake that?" he asked her.

She blushed. "No, Mrs. Smith did." She grinned. Mrs. Smith was the frozen pie brand. "I didn't have time to since I made dinner".

"Well, frozen is delicious too!" Chase said.

She smiled and nodded.

They had their dessert, but they each only had a slice. She had gotten vanilla ice cream and whipped cream to go with it, and they were too stuffed to eat any more than one serving.

After they cleared the dishes, Chase pulled her close to him in the kitchen by the waist, and kissed her softly. "Thank you for dinner and dessert. It was all so delicious."

"Are you hungry for more dessert?" Bridgette asked softly with a sly smile.

Chase shook his head and pat his stomach. "No thanks! It was good, but I'm stuffed!"

Her tone grew serious and her voice softer and she gently stroked a finger down his left cheek. "I didn't mean that kind of dessert. I meant…" She stepped back and slid off her black sweater that was over her tight crimson crushed velvet tank top. "A different kind of dessert." She began kissing down his jaw line. "That is, if you're ready for it?"

Chase nodded. "I'm more than ready for it," he said softly. "Now that I can put all this Jeremiah stuff behind me, I'm so ready to be with you in every way." His eyes were lowered with love for her.

"And I'm more than ready to be with _you_ in every way," she said, her eyes lowered with love for him. She softly kissed him.

He then picked her up and carried her to his bedroom where he had already lit candles all around it.

He laid her on the bed, and she smiled up at him.

"It's beautiful, Chase," she breathed.

" _You're_ beautiful, Bridgette," he said softly as he gently stroked her hair.

They kissed, and then slowly started to undress each other.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

Carol and Casey lie in bed content after making love.

"I love you so much!" Casey said to her.

"I love you too," she said with a grin, facing him in bed as she gently pushed some hair out of his eyes. She realized she did love him…more than any of her exes.

"I want to marry you one day. Not right now. I know this is still semi new to us, but you're the only one I want to spend the rest of my life with," he said to her.

Carol was quiet for a moment.

"You _do_ want to get married, right?" Casey asked, sensing her hesitation.

Carol shrugged. "Honestly? I don't know. I love you. I have no doubt about that. It's just that, none of my other marriages worked. Marriage is a lot of hard work, and I don't want to lose what we have," she said honestly. She was surprised at her own willingness to be honest with him.

"That's because you weren't meant for them like you are meant for me!" Casey said with a grin. He stroked her hair and kissed her cheek.

Carol grinned. "Yeah, that's totally it!"

"One day we'll get married," Casey said, not seeming to get that she had only been teasing. "It will turn out better this time. I promise!"

Carol nodded, and they kissed, and then he rolled over and prepared to sleep. Making love always made him tired, whereas it always made her hungry.

She held him for a bit, waiting for him to fall asleep. He hadn't gotten that she was kidding about her other marriages not working out just because she was meant for Casey and not them. Before each of her marriages, she was sure she was meant for her husband-to-be, and starting with her second marriage, she had used the same excuse. "I wasn't meant for him; I was meant for you." But then she'd find out after marriage that she wasn't meant for the new husband either. Now she had been married so many times it almost felt silly to try again.

She sighed, and then climbed out of bed once she was sure that Casey was sleeping. It never took him long to fall asleep. She didn't know how. It always seemed to take her at least fifteen minutes to fall asleep. Most of the time it took even longer. For him, he fell asleep within a minute it seemed.

She headed to the fridge and took out a pint of coffee ice cream. She then sat down at the kitchen table and ate it right from the carton, only sharing one scoop, which she dropped to the floor for Jake. She really didn't even want to think about marriage tonight. She wasn't sure she ever wanted to get married again. She sighed, and looked at the clock. It was after eleven. She figured that worry could be saved for another night. All she wanted to do now was finish her ice cream, and then go to sleep. So, she did just that.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

Making love with Bridgette had been everything Chase had dreamed it would be, and making love with Chase was everything Bridgette had dreamed it would be as well.

"Do you regret it?" Chase asked her afterwards as he held her in his arms and gently stroked her hair.

She smiled up at him and shook her head. "Are you kidding me? That was the best ever!" She softly kissed him on the lips. "And not just because you're good in bed, which you are. You're fantastic!"

Chase grinned proudly. "I am?"

Bridgette nodded. "The best!" She kissed him. Then she rested her head on his shoulder and placed her hand over his chest. "It was also the best because I'm with the best. I never loved anyone the way I love you, Chase."

He looked at her with tears in his eyes. He was so happy. "I've never loved anyone the way I love you either." He smiled. "This is the first time I've actually made love without it being tainted by something disturbing. This time, it was special, and I can make good memories now when it comes to sex," he said happily.

"When it comes to making love," Bridgette corrected him, gently stroking his cheek.

"When it comes to making love," he agreed.

They kissed.

"I don't like sleeping naked, so if you don't mind, I'm gonna put my underwear back on and some shorts and a night shirt," Chase said with an embarrassed grin.

She laughed. "It's okay. I feel the same way!"

So they got up and dressed into their night clothes, Bridgette's choice sleepwear being her underwear and a satin pink nighty.

Once dressed, they got back into bed and kissed until Chase got tired, and then, after wishing her goodnight and telling her he loved her, he rolled over to his side and fell asleep.

"I love you too, Chasey," she said softly, as she gently stroked his hair, and kissed his cheek. She then, careful not to disturb him, got out of bed, and headed out to the main room where she took her phone out of her purse and responded to her text. It actually hadn't been Jessica at all, but she couldn't tell Chase that. It was her friend Matt, who was the owner of Neverland. She hadn't told Chase because she knew Chase found Matt to be creepy, and that he didn't like the idea of her being friends with Matt. But Chase had nothing to worry about. Matt was just a nice man, and he was her friend. Chase may not like it, but she didn't let anyone tell her who she could and could not be friends with. She especially wouldn't let her boyfriend tell her that! She didn't like possessiveness. She saw it too much with the way her step dad was with her mother. Besides, Chase didn't like the idea of her and Matt being friends, but he had never told her she couldn't be.

She quickly texted Matt back. _I'd love to have lunch tomorrow. Thanks for the invite! Where do you want to go?_

Matt texted back almost right away. _I thought you were going to say no when you didn't text me back right away. I was worried._ _How about Chelsea's at noon? My treat! I can pick you up at your place._

She texted back. _Sorry. I was eating dinner. Sounds good, except I'll just meet you there. That way I can drive straight to rehearsals after and you don't have to take me to rehearsals and wait for me. Then you'd have to take me back to my place._

He texted back. _As you wish, but I really don't mind waiting for you, and watching you dance. And I REALLY don't mind taking you back to your place. ;)_

She shook her head and smirked. He was always a kidder. _I bet you wouldn't! I'll meet you there at noon. See you then._

He texted back. _You're killing me! Okay. See you then!_

She texted back one last text. _Goodnight, Matt. Xoxo_

She then turned off her phone for the night, dropped it back into her purse, and then headed back to bed.

Chase stirred just long enough to take her in his arms, and then go back to sleep.

Bridgette kissed his cheek, and then held him in her arms and closed her eyes.

 _What he doesn't know won't hurt him,_ she thought to herself as she soon after joined him in dream land.


	76. S4E1

_**This Love…**_

 _ **Season 4 Episode 1: Heartbeat Song**_

"So, what are you getting Hope for Valentine's Day?" Lucas asked as he and Aiden sat together, having a quick lunch at The Brady Pub. They had recently taken to getting together for lunch once a week, and they hung out some evenings as well. Hope was good about letting them have their male bonding time, and was just happy to see that Aiden had a friend.

"I got her a gorgeous sapphire and diamond tennis bracelett. I figured she could wear it for the something blue for our wedding," Aiden replied.

Lucas smiled. "I'm sure she'll love it. You know, that's the only thing I don't miss about having a woman in my life. At least I don't have to spend my money on expensive things for her. You know Valentine's Day is a total made up holiday from the greeting card companies and probably even the jewelers just to make some extra cash, right?" Lucas sipped his Coke as he waited for Aiden's response.

Aiden smirked. "I know. But Hope loves it, and I love making her happy. Besides, there is no one I'd rather spend my money on than her."

Lucas smiled. "I guess if I had a woman I really loved, I'd love spending money on her too. I'm just still bitter that Adrienne went back to Justin again. I should have known better, really. She left me for him one other time. Why not again, right?"

Aiden smiled at him sympathetically. "Don't worry. You'll find love again one day when you least expect it!"

"Yeah, right!" Lucas rolled his eyes. "That's what they all say."

"Maybe you and your mother could do something fun together like watch a movie or go out to dinner. Both even. She's single too at the moment, right?"

"I don't know. I can never keep track of her and Andre. I don't know what she sees in that psycho. I mean, he's bad news on so many levels. Then again, I think that is why my mother likes him so much. But really, who dies and comes back to life over and over again? I swear he's a phoenix just like his father was. And anyway, hanging out with my mother on Valentine's Day is even more pathetic than spending it alone." Lucas sipped his Coke again, wishing it were something stronger. But of course, being a recovering alcoholic, this would have to do.

"At least Stefano won't be rising again thanks to my lovely wife to be," Aiden joked. "Not that what she did was right. But I know she was not in her right mind. Though, she should have turned herself in right away. I could have easily gotten her off on temporary insanity had she still been with me. She never would have had to go to jail then. But Rafe had the big idea to cover for her and dump the body. Rafe really ruined things for her. She was venerable, and he knew better than that! The sad thing is she still thinks he was her hero even though he's the one that got her into that mess."

"You're not having problems with Hope now, are you?" Lucas asked, sounding concerned. "She's not back in contact with Rafe, is she?"

Aiden shook his head. "No. Nothing like that. But she still admires him. They don't really talk much. Once in a while they will send a friendly email to each other, but that's it. And she always tells me about it when she talks to him. He's dating a girl name Blanca now. I met her before. She's a beautiful woman and seems nice. Of course Hope's the most beautiful woman in my opinion, but still, Blanca's a much better match for Rafe."

Lucas shrugged. "Or Sami. I feel Rafe and Sami were good for each other. I know that sounds weird coming from her ex-husband and the father of two of her children, but it's true. She and I love each other, but we're not meant to be together in a romantic sense."

"Let's not talk about Rafe anymore. I'd like to be able to enjoy the rest of my lunch," Aiden joked as he picked up his turkey and cheese sandwich.

Lucas smirked. "All right. So, is it just Shawn, Casey, me, and Chase representing you in the wedding party?"

"And my associate Jason," Aiden replied. "Chase will be my best man, and Jason, you, Casey, and Shawn will be the groomsmen."

"Who does Hope have again?" Lucas was curious as he ate some of his chowder.

"Kayla, Jennifer, Claire, and Carol will be her bridesmaids. Ciara will be her maid of honor," Aiden replied. "Doug will give her away of course. The twins are going to be taken down the aisle in a little double stroller wheeled by Julie. Haiden will be holding the rings in a tiny little bag, and Maddie will have a little basket of rose petals.

"Too precious!" Lucas said.

"This is going to sound stupid, but Jake is going to be the guest book attendant," Aiden said with a smirk.

"Casey's dog?" Lucas asked in surprise and confusion.

Aiden burst out laughing. "It's so crazy! I know. But Carol pouted her way into getting me to say yes. She claims Jake is family too, and that it would 'hurt his feelings' if he weren't in the wedding."

Lucas laughed so hard he had tears in his eyes. "That's the most ridiculous thing I ever heard!"

"I know right?" Aiden asked, laughing with him.

"How's he going to do that? Bark twice for sign here?" Lucas asked.

Aiden laughed harder. "No, but he's going to have a sign draped over him that says 'Please sign the guest book'."

It took them both a moment to stop laughing, and then Lucas calmed down. "It's cute I guess." He raised an eyebrow. "What does Hope think of it?"

Aiden sipped his lemonade before responding. "She's being a good sport about it. But she is making him wear a doggy suit."

Lucas nearly spit out his Coke. "For real?"

"For real!" Aiden confirmed with a nod.

"You're going to make me pee my pants," Lucas quipped.

"Just make sure you don't wet your pants at my wedding!" Aiden quipped back.

They both laughed again.

"I'm really glad we're friends, Aiden. What took us so long?" Lucas asked.

Aiden shrugged. "I wasn't in a good place the first time I was in town. And when I got back the second time, I still wasn't in a good place."

"Well, you know what they say. "The third time's the charm," Lucas said before downing the rest of hic Coke and then motioning the waitress for another one.

Aiden smiled, thinking of both his friendship with Lucas, and his relationship with Hope. "I sure hope so."

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

"What do you think of this one? Do you think he'll like it?" Hope asked Kayla. They were shopping together after having had lunch together. Carol was watching the twins for her.

Kayla looked at the racy, lacy red teddy Hope was holding up and she whistled. "Is that for your wedding night or for Valentine's Day?"

Hope grinned. "Valentine's Day. Aiden is planning something special for us." She raised an eyebrow. "At least he better be."

Kayla smiled. "Seeing as it leaves nothing to the imagination, I'm sure he'll love it. And of course he'll plan something for you! That man dotes on you like you're his queen." She then nodded toward the teddy. "I don't see what man _wouldn't_ like that!"

"Perfect!" Hope said, popping it into her shopping bag that the attendant had given her to hold the things she wanted to purchase. "This one will be for our wedding night." She took a lavender purple lace nightie off the rack and held it up for Kayla to see. It left more to the imagination than the red one did, but it was still incredibly sexy, and nothing Kayla would ever have had the nerve to wear. "I don't think you'll be spending much time out of the bedroom if you wear that!" Kayla joked.

Hope laughed. "Again, perfect!" she tossed it into her bag. "Ciara wants to be the one to help me pick my wedding dress out, but will you help me pick out the bridesmaids' dresses? Maybe we can do it two days after Valentine's Day. Ciara is flying in tomorrow afternoon to watch the twins for Aiden and I since tomorrow is of course Valentine's Day. She's staying the weekend, so the day after tomorrow, Ciara and I will go to look at some wedding dress options. She could come with us when we look for the bridesmaids' dresses."

Kayla nodded. "I'd love to! I have to make sure you don't put me in green. Ew. I do _not_ look good in green."

Hope rolled her eyes. "You look good in everything, Kayla, and you know it! But don't worry. Our wedding colors are navy and purple, so your dress will be purple."

Kayla grinned happily. "I can live with purple!"

Hope smiled too. "I really hope this wedding will last this time. I'm tired of having my heart broken." She teared up a little.

Kayla put a hand over her shoulder. "Do you think Aiden will break your heart again? Cuz if you have any doubts, Hope, especially after what happened the last time…" Kayla trailed off.

Hope shook her head. "No. No doubts whatsoever. I guess I'm just paranoid after whom I thought was Aiden tried to kill me, Bo died, and Rafe cheated on me. Of course I ended up cheating on him too, but he was the cause of our twins' death, though inadvertently."

"Well, Aiden adores you, and I can tell that he is a changed man. I really believe his love for you changed him, Hope," Kayla said honestly.

Hope smiled big, the tears gone. "I know he has. I'm even more in love with him now than I ever was before. He makes me _so_ happy, Kay. And unlike Rafe, I know he'd never cheat on me. Rafe cheated on me before I ever cheated on him with Aiden. True we were broken up, but still, the whole situation was just wrong. First, he wouldn't listen to me when I needed to talk to him. Instead of listening to me when I needed him to, he through a tantrum and broke it off with me, and then slept with his ex, whom he had just claimed prior that he didn't have feelings for. Not to mention it was that very same night that he dumped me he slept with her! Then he was hiding in Sami's bedroom when I came over and poured my heart out to her. And let's not forget he hid it from me even though everyone else and their cousin knew, including my own daughter and granddaughter."

"Aiden clearly isn't the only one who makes mistakes. We were both wrong to judge Aiden so harshly," Kayla said in reference to the past. "Now if he had actually gone through with trying to kill you, I wouldn't be so forgiving. But he couldn't do it, so you know he loves you. His son's life was threatened, but he still couldn't go through with killing you even though his son could be murdered if he didn't."

Hope nodded. "Now that I've had time, I can see it from his perspective better. He handled things wrong, yes. But who's to say how anyone would handle anything when put into a situation like that? Lord knows I never would have thought I'd kill an old man in a wheelchair—no matter how much of a monster he was."

Kayla nodded. "So true."

"How about you get this for Steve?" Hope asked, and eyebrow raised as she held up a pretty magenta-colored negligee that was see-through except for hearts over the breasts and crotch area.

Kayla blushed. "I couldn't."

Hope smirked. "I think Steve would say you could. I'm buying it for you." She selected Kayla's size, and plopped it into her bag.

Kayla shook her head. "You're crazy."

Hope smirked. " _You're_ crazy if you think Steve won't like you in that! Trust me—you'll both be thanking me later." She winked and smiled at Kayla, who shook her head and followed her to the checkout with a laugh.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

"Thank you for dinner, my love," Hope said, her arms draped over Aiden's shoulders as they stood outside the door to their rooftop apartment they had on top of Aiden's office. "And thank you so much for the bracelet. I love it more than words!" She smiled. Aiden had taken her to dinner and dancing at Chez Rouge.

Aiden held her waist. "My beautiful wife-to-be deserves a beautiful bracelet to wear," he said matter-of-factly. And while we're dishing out the thank yous, thank you for the beautiful scrapbook. I love it! I'm going to keep it in my office so that I can look at your beautiful face even when we're not together." He lovingly kissed her, and she hungrily kissed him back.

"You already have my picture on your desk," Hope said with a shy smile. She pushed some hair behind her ears.

"Yes, but I can't have enough pictures of you. Especially when they are pictures with me," Aiden said simply. She had made a scrapbook of pictures of them happily in love. She had titled it, "What love looks like", and Aiden adored every page. "It would have made a better St. Patrick's Day present though," he said with a wink and a smile.

She raised an eyebrow. "Do people even give gifts on St. Patrick's Day? And why do you think?"

"I'm not sure. I said it because looking at us happy and together again reminds me of how lucky I am to have finally won your heart back for good," Aiden said simply.

Hope pulled him into another kiss, though this one more passionate. "Open the door and let's go in. I'm tired of talking," she said breathlessly after breaking the kiss.

Aiden nodded, and licked his lips. Her kiss, having sent a hunger for her throughout his body. "Me too. Just stay out here for just a sec." He unlocked the door and walked in before her, gently shutting the door behind him, though not fully. Just enough to block Hope's view.

"Aiden, why do I have to wait out here?" Hope whined.

"Hold on just a sec!" he repeated.

A moment later, he opened the door. "Come in, my love."

"It's about time. That was more than just a sec!" But Hope wasn't really angry—especially not when she saw that the floor and bed were completely covered with red, pink, and white rose petals. There were candles lit all around, and there was a huge plate of chocolate covered strawberries in white, milk, dark, and pink chocolates. There was also a bottle of Champaign chilling in an ice bucket next to two Champaign flutes. There was soft music playing on the portable CD player. Currently, Ella Fitzgerald's "Dream a Little Dream of Me" was playing quietly. The curtains were opened wide, displaying the beautiful city lights below them.

"This is all so beautiful, Aiden! You did this all for me?" She shut and locked the door behind her.

Aiden smirked. "No, actually, I did it for Bertha down at the Rite Aide, but she never showed up, so I guess you'll have to do," he teased.

Bertha was a big, burly woman whom Hope wasn't quite sure hadn't always been a woman.

Hope laughed. "Lucky me," she said, playing along with a wink.

"It's a shame too because I was really looking forward to disproving your theory about her being a man," Aiden continued.

Hope laughed again and playfully swatted his chest. "Oh stop!"

Aiden grinned, and then turned serious. "Happy Valentine's Day, Baby," he purred, puling her close by the waist.

Hope smiled, and gently stroked some hair out of his eyes. "Happy Valentine's Day, Mr. Jennings. I love you."

"I love you too. With all of my heart," Aiden said.

Hope kicked off her heals, and Aiden kicked off his shoes, and then they then found themselves slowly swaying back and forth together with the city lights as their landscape as they danced to the rest of "Dream a Little Dream of Me".

"I could dance with you all night," Aiden murmured in her ear as he gently stroked her hair behind her ear.

"Wouldn't you rather do something else?" she purred into his ear.

"What did you have in mind?" Aiden asked, his voice husky, playing as if he didn't know.

"Why don't you go get comfortable, and I'll show you?" Hope purred into his ear.

"All right," Aiden murmured. He had gone to the bathroom right before they had left the restaurant, so he didn't need to use the bathroom anyway. Hope however, disappeared inside the bathroom and shut the door.

Aiden pulled back the covers, and then stripped down to his white boxers with the red shiny hearts all over them. He had thought Hope might get a kick out of them.

The anticipation made the ten minutes that Hope spent in the bathroom seem more like twenty. By then, "Endless Love" by Diana Ross and Lionel Richie was playing.

Suddenly, Hope came out wearing a little red number that literally made his mouth drop open as he moaned. "Wow. Baby…where did you get _that_?"

Hope smiled. "At a little lingerie shop in the mall. Do you like it?"

"Baby, do you even need to ask that? Get over here now, please!"

Hope giggled. Being with Aiden made her feel like a teenager again. She jumped into bed with him, and they immediately began kissing passionately.

"I love these too… So sexy," she said as she ran her hand slowly down the front of his heart boxers, causing an audible moan to escape his lips. "But they really have to go," she purred into his ear, making quick work of removing them.

He moaned again, and once she had gotten them off and to the floor, he rolled her over so that she was pinned down beneath him. He kissed her hungrily—needily—on the lips, and then let his lips trail down to her neck as his fingers made quick work of removing her lingerie from her.

His hands roamed her body slowly from bottom to top once her lingerie was off. "You are so beautiful. You take my breath away," he said to her.

"And you've always taken mine away," she replied breathily. "Even when I didn't want to admit it." She pulled him closer then. "Make love to me, Mr. Jennings."

Aiden's eyes lowered with a hunger for her, and he kissed her passionately. He then made love to her just as she wanted him too. It was intense and passionate, and just what they both needed.

She wrapped her legs around his waist, and he kissed her right breast, and then her left breast, and then his lips met with hers again. His hands had her wrists pinned down to the bed as he entered her again. Her back arched and her mouth opened as she sucked in pleasured intake of breath. And a little while later, when they finally both met their goal, he held her in his arms, gently and lightly stroking her hair with his fingertips. "Mm… That was so much better than I'd imagine it would have been with Bertha," he teased. Then he wrinkled his nose. "I think I just got myself out of the mood."

Hope smiled. "I guess I'm going to have to remedy that then, won't I?" she purred in his ear. She blew gently down his chest as she slowly ran her hands down it. Then, she kissed a trail of red lipstick prints down his chest, aiming for her ultimate goal, which was a little bit lower under the covers.

"Hope…" Aiden murmured with closed eyes. He moaned as she met her goal under the covers. His fingers gently pressed against the back of her head and his breath became rugged. He was suddenly very in the mood again.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

"Tonight was absolutely perfect, thank you," Hope said as she fed Aiden a white chocolate covered strawberry. He loved the dark chocolate the best, as well as the white chocolate. She preferred the milk chocolate and the pink, which worked out perfectly for them.

"Thank you, my love. You make every Valentine's Day better," he murmured. "And by next Valentine's Day, we'll be married." He fed her a pink chocolate strawberry.

"Mm…. I can hardly wait to spend next Valentine's Day as Mrs. Aiden Jennings," she murmured.

"And I can't wait for you to _be_ Mrs. Aiden Jennings," he replied. They kissed, tasting each other's strawberry on the other's lips.

Aiden then took the Champaign and he peeled off the foil wrapping. Then, he popped the cork.

Hope squealed in delight as it popped across the room and fell into the hot tub.

They both giggled.

"It's a good thing you aimed away from the window," she joked.

"The glass is bulletproof," Aiden informed her. "I didn't want any birds or anything flying through the glass. You never know."

"Good idea," Hope said, gently stroking his cheek, and then kissing him softly.

"Aiden poured them both a glass, and handed her one. "To us. May God bless us with a wonderful life together," he toasted, holding his glass up.

"To us. Yes, may God bless us with a wonderful life together," she agreed, clinking her class with his. They linked arms and drank up.

"Oh! I never asked you how your lunch with Lucas went yesterday," Hope said as she sipped her Champaign.

"It went pretty good!" Aiden replied. "He's terribly lonely without Adrienne though. I'm thinking of setting him up with someone. I'm just not sure who yet. He acts like he doesn't mind being dateless on Valentine's Day, but I know it does."

Hope rested her head on his shoulder. "That would be nice if you could find a nice girl for him. Maybe someone st your office knows someone."

Aiden nodded. "Maybe. I'll have to see. But no more talk about Lucas for tonight. I want to concentrate soully on my baby tonight."

Hope smiled. "And all I want to concentrate on tonight is you, my love."

They then set their glasses and the rest of the strawberries aside on the floor next to the Champaign bottle, and pulled each other closer.

"I love you, Mr. Jennings. Happy Valentine's Day," Hope murmured.

"I love you too, Baby. Happy Valentine's Day, My Love," Aiden murmured back.

They kissed some more, and then Hope moaned as Aiden gently laid her down beneath him and made love to her again, only this time more gentle and romantic. And later that night when they lay with all the candles blown out and the only light being from the city lights through the window, Hope's head on Aiden's chest, and his arms around her, they both knew that this had been the best Valentine's Day so far, and that Lord willing, the best was yet to come for them.


	77. S4E2

_**This Love…**_

 _ **Season 4 Episode 2: Waiting for a Star to Fall**_

The next day at the office, Aiden was in good spirits. He had had the most amazing night with Hope, and even better, they were going to be getting married in just over two months. His dream was coming true when he had once thought it was over for good. He thanked God every day for Hope, and he was not going to screw this third chance up. He even planned on talking to her about something he had in mind for their future that night at dinner.

But first, he had a very important client to attend to.

"Your three o'clock is here," his secretary Tiffany announced pleasantly over the intercom.

Aiden pressed the button on his side. "Thank you, Tiffany. You may let him in."

Dr. Marshall Davis entered his office. Aiden was representing him in a malpractice lawsuit. A patient had claimed that he had been the reason for her baby's death. Her baby had been stillborn and she had insisted that if he had done an emergency C-section like she had told him to, the baby would still be alive.

"You know patients. They think they know better than the doctor does sometimes. We never planned for a C-section. In fact, the woman was very adamant that she wanted to give birth naturally. She had already had three C-sections within the past five years, and if I were to give her another, it could have caused serious damage to both her bladder and intestines. Not to mention the scarring. Having had multiple C-sections already, she could have even developed an infection or incessant bleeding. Other organs could have been damaged as well. Any medical book and any doctor will say the same thing," Dr. Davis explained. "It's the main reason why I suggested she go natural this time, and she had very adamantly agreed."

"She really doesn't have a case. She is a grieving mother, and she isn't thinking clearly. She was under pain medication at the time, and didn't fully know what was going on. I consider this an open and shut case. I mean, the medical facts speak for themselves," Aiden replied.

Dr. Davis nodded. "Trust me, if I felt a C-section was absolutely necessary, I would have given her one. But sometimes there is nothing a doctor can do, as in this case. It's not the mother's fault, and it isn't even the doctor's fault. It's no one's fault. Sometimes babies are just stillborn. No one but God knows why."

Aiden nodded. He likes this doctor a lot. He worked at a hospital twenty minutes away from Salem, but for some reason he had chosen Aiden and his law firm to represent him, and for that, Aiden was grateful.

They talked more about the case for another half an hour, and then they stood up and shook hands as Dr. Davis prepared to leave.

"Is that your wife?" Dr. Davis asked, nodding toward a picture of Hope on his desk.

Aiden smiled. "She's my fiancée, but soon-to-be wife. We're getting married on Earth Day. Her name is Hope."

"She's beautiful." Dr. Davis picked up the picture and looked at it again. It was one of Hope on her birthday, in a beautiful dress, wearing a crown as a joke. It was an unofficially birthday crown. She had the most beautiful smile on her face which made Aiden weak every time he looked at the picture.

Aiden cleared his throat. He didn't like the way Dr. Davis was looking at the picture. "Thank you. Is there anything else I can do for you?"

Dr. Davis smiled up at him. "Now that I know you're married, no, there isn't." He set the picture back down on the desk.

Aiden was confused. "I'm sorry, I'm not quite sure I understand." Was the good doctor gay? Did he have a crush on him? Aiden suddenly felt uncomfortable. He was fine with it if Dr. Davis were a gay man, but Aiden certainly was not, and didn't really want someone he wasn't attracted to crushing on him.

Dr. Davis laughed as if knowing what Aiden was thinking. "I'm not gay with a crush on you if that's what you were thinking."

Aiden blushed. "What? No!" He laughed nervously. "I'm just a little confused as to what you mean."

"I have a forty-six-year-old daughter named Mandy. She is so beautiful. I know every father thinks their daughter is beautiful, but mine truly is." He took out a picture from his wallet and handed it to Aiden. "She hasn't wanted to date since her husband died in a motorcycle accident two years ago leaving her a window and their ten-year-old daughter fatherless. She's so sad and depressed all the time. I want her to find a nice man, but she has no desire to go out and find one. I saw you and thought you'd be perfect for her. But, seeing as you're engaged and clearly already madly in love with someone else, you won't do," Dr. Davis explained with a smile and a wink.

Aiden smiled at him and took the picture. "I'm sorry, but I am a one woman man. Hope is a part of my heart. I am not wiling to live without her or with anyone else but her." He admired the picture. Looking back at him was a stunning blonde woman with long blond hair and big green eyes. Her hair was past her shoulders and straight as a ruler, yet it fit her heart-shaped face perfectly. She had long lashes and a beautiful smile (thought not quite as beautiful as Hope's) with perfectly straight white teeth. She looked a lot like Reece Witherspoon to him in some ways.

Aiden handed the picture back to Dr. Davis. "She really is beautiful. You know, I'm actually looking for a woman for my friend Lucas Horton who is only a few years older than your daughter. Unfortunately I don't have a picture of him on me, but he is a handsome guy, I can assure you. Maybe not quite as handsome as me, but who is?" Aiden joked.

Dr. Davis laughed. "Well, if he's a friend of yours, I'm sure he must be a great guy."

Aiden nodded. "He is. He has been married before and has a son in his late twenties and a daughter in her early teens. His daughter lives in California with her mother, and his long-term girlfriend just left him _again_ for her ex-husband. He's incredibly lonely even though he won't admit it. He's kind of like your daughter in the fact that he doesn't really feel like getting out there again. I think he doesn't want to be hurt again," Aiden explained.

Dr. Davis nodded. "That is just like my daughter. What does he do for a living?"

"Did you ever hear of Countess Wilhelmina?" Aiden asked.

Dr. Davis nodded. "My ex-wife used to buy all her cosmetics from there."

"Well, his family owns the company. He works there full-time, and he works part-time as a nanny for mine and Hope's twins. Haiden and Maddie. One girl, one boy." He took out a picture of them from his wallet and handed it to Dr. Davis.

Dr. Davis smiled. "Oh how precious!" He handed the picture back to Aiden with a smile. "I'd love for him to meet my daughter. How do we make this happen?"

Aiden smiled big. "Why don't you sit back down and we'll discuss it?"

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

"Mom, what about this dress?" Ciara asked, holding up a long, flowy, silky red dress.

Hope raised an eyebrow. "Red for a wedding dress?"

Ciara smirked. "Come on, Mom. You wouldn't be fooling anyone by wearing white."

Hope gasped. "Ciara Alice Brady that's just mean!" She broke into a grin, knowing Ciara was only teasing her.

Ciara laughed. "I just wanted to get a rise out of you. It's pretty though. Maybe one day I'll wear red to _my_ wedding."

"You will not! You will be my perfect beautiful little angel wearing white when you get married," Hope insisted.

Ciara smiled. In some ways, she wanted to be grown up. After all, she was. But in other ways, she loved being her mother's baby and always would. "It will be a long while before I get married anyway," she said. "I'm not even sure what I want any more. I thought I liked boys, and then I met Skylar and thought I liked girls. Now I'm not sure what I like."

Hope walked over to her and put an arm around her. "I'm sure you'll know what you want when you find it. And when you do find it, you better make damned sure they are deserving of you—guy _or_ girl."

Ciara grinned. "That's one advantage if I choose a man."

Hope raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

Ciara grinned wickedly. "I can always castrate him if he doesn't treat me right."

Hope's mouth dropped open. "Ciara Alice Brady, your obsession with castrating men troubles me." Her voice dropped to almost a whisper. "Does it have to do with what happened to you?"

"You mean does it have to do with me having been raped?" Ciara asked louder.

Hope looked around and blushed.

"The rape was what it was, Mom. I've made peace with that. I'm only joking anyway. Gosh! Have a sense of humor!" Ciara said as she rolled her eyes.

"Sorry," Hope said with a weak smile, feeling foolish.

Ciara grinned wickedly again. "Besides, don't you think I would have castrated Chase a long time ago if I was serious about castrating guys who wronged me? Or even Aiden for what he almost did to you yeas ago?"

Hope nodded. "Good point."

Ciara smirked. "How about this one?" She held up a white dress this time, but it still seemed too plain for Hope's taste. She shook her head. "Too plain."

Ciara sighed, and put it back. She had a feeling they were going to be there all day.

She wasn't totally wrong. It was three hours and four bridal shops later when she held a dress up to her. "Mom, how about this? It's a little different I know, but I think it's kind of pretty, and you have to admit, it's kind of fitting."

Hope turned to look at it, and a huge smile spread across her face. "It's perfect!"

Ciara let out a sigh of relief. "Finally! Now let's pay for it and then go get some pizza!"

Hope laughed, and took the dress from her. She smiled. It really was the perfect dress, and she could hardly wait until Aiden could see her in it when she was finally walking down the aisle to him!

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

Over the next week, Aiden was busy with his cases, including Dr. Davis' case. It took three days in court, but finally Dr. Davis was found not guilty of malpractice. Dr. Davis was thrilled.

Aiden had been so busy with work, that he hadn't had the chance to talk to Lucas yet. Heck, today was the first day Lucas had watched the twins in a week. Carol had watched them before that. Lucas had had a crisis at Countess Wilhelmina and had had to go out of town for business for a few days. But everything was settled now, so Lucas was back to his regular nanny schedule.

So, after grabbing some cheese burgers and fries for him and Lucas, Aiden headed home to grab a quick lunch with Lucas while talking to him about his potential date.

"You just missed the twins. I put them down for their naps. The poor things both fell asleep on the changing table," Lucas said with a smile.

"I'm actually here to see you! I got you a cheese burger and fries, and a Coke with no ice—just as you prefer," Aiden announced as he sat next to him on the couch, and began dishing out everything on the coffee table in front of them.

"Thanks! I'm starved," Lucas said, reaching for his wallet. "What do I owe you?"

"Nothing. Get out of here," Aiden replied.

"Well, thanks. I'll get lunch next time." Lucas bit into his burger. "Mm! Five Guys has the best burgers ever."

Aiden smirked. "I know, right?"

"So, what is it you wanted to talk to me about? I'm assuming you have to talk to me about something since you never usually stop by just to say hello to me." Lucas smirked.

Aiden grinned. "You know me too well. Actually, it's about a beautiful and single woman who is a few years younger than you are."

"A set up? This is a set up?" Lucas put his burger down. "Come on now. I hate set ups! They make me feel so pathetic; like I can't get a woman on my own."

"Well, you're not exactly trying," Aiden noted.

Lucas shrugged, and picked his burger back up. "Salem's not exactly crawling with eligible good looking women." He took a bite.

"Well, she is both eligible _and_ good looking." Aiden took out the copy of the photo that Dr. Davis had given him. It was a copy of the photo that Dr. Davis had shown Aiden a week before. "Her name is Mandy. She lives a little less than a half hour away, but that's nothing, really."

Lucas set his burger down and wiped his hands on a napkin before taking the picture out of curiosity if nothing else. As he looked at it, he couldn't deny that she was incredibly beautiful. He looked at Aiden. "What's wrong with her?"

Aiden looked confused. "What do you mean?"

"Why is she still single?" Lucas asked. "A beautiful woman like her still being available must mean she's some kind of a loony or something."

Aiden laughed; amused. "Are _you_ a loony? You're a nice looking man and _you're_ still single."

Lucas nodded. "Touché."

"She's recently widowed and has a daughter who's ten. She hasn't felt up to dating, but it's been two years and her father thinks it might do her some good to meet someone new. Just as I think it might do _you_ some good to meet someone new," Aiden stated.

Lucas sighed, and continued looking at the picture. "I don't know…"

"Her father is a client of mine. He is a respectable doctor," Aiden said, trying to sway him.

Lucas looked at him. "So she must come from a decent family. That's something at least. She isn't just some fly by night woman off the streets."

Aiden laughed. "Of course not! I'd never set you up with a woman like that."

Lucas looked at the picture again, and then up at Aiden with a big grin. "Do you have her number?" he asked hopefully.

Aiden grinned big and handed him the piece of paper with her number on it. "I thought you'd never ask."

 _ **~*came back to me*~**_

"What are these for?" Hope asked with a smile as Aiden handed her some pink roses and kissed her cheek after work.

"Do I really need an excuse to give my wife something to make her smile?" Aiden asked.

"I'm not your wife yet," Hope reminded him.

"In here you are," Aiden pointed to his heart.

Hope pulled him close by the front of the shirt and kissed him passionately. "Well, I for one can't wait to be your wife, Mr. Jennings."

"What do you say you go put those in some water and then I'll take you out to dinner?" Aiden suggested to her.

Hope nodded. She went into the kitchen and put the roses in a vase filled with water, and then she came back out, and took his hand.

"Hope, I thought we were going out to dinner," Aiden said as she started to lead him toward the stairwell.

"Dinner can wait," he said to him. "I want my dessert first."

Aiden moaned. He certainly wasn't going to argue with that!

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

Lucas was nervous as he dialed Mandy Davis' number. She picked up on the third ring.

"Hello?" Her voice was pleasant sounding. It was soft, yet clear.

"Hello. I know this is going to sound weird, but my friend Aiden is your father's lawyer, and apparently, both he and your father thought it might be nice to set you and me up. I'm Lucas Horton," Lucas explained, feeling a little silly to be calling some stranger he had never even met before, let alone talked to.

"I'm sorry; I have no idea what you're talking about. My father never mentioned a thing about you," Mandy replied, sounding a little confused.

Lucas felt his cheeks flush with embarrassment. "No? Oh… Well, I'm sorry then. I must sound completely insane. Your father is Dr. Marshall Davis, right? Or maybe he's not and I was given the wrong number, or I dialed it wrong." If this was a prank of Aiden's, Lucas was going to kill him.

Suddenly, Mandy laughed. It was a beautiful, hearty laugh. "I'm messing with you! Of course my father told me about you. Your friend didn't have a picture to show me, but I'll admit, I looked you up online and found one. You're pretty cute. I usually go for blondes like myself, but I may be willing to make an exception for you."

Lucas grinned. She sounded flirty. He liked women who weren't shy. "Maybe we could get to know each other over dinner? Say, tomorrow at six? I can pick you up and take you to Chez Rouge. My Aunt Maggie owns the place and can give us not only the best seat in the house, but no waiting in line as well."

"Well how can I turn that offer down?" Mandy asked.

They both laughed.

"But my daughter has a ballet recital tomorrow, so can we make it Friday instead? She's got a sleep over that night, so I don't have to worry about her if we do it then instead."

"Friday at six it is then. What is your address?" Lucas grabbed his phone and opened up the notepad, where he quickly typed off her address, and then read it back to her after he had written it down.

"That's correct! I'm really looking forward to meeting you, Lucas. It's been a while since I've opened my heart to dating again, but I really think this might be good for me," she said honestly.

Lucas smiled. "I really feel it will be good for me too, Mandy. And I'll be looking forward to it to. I will see you tomorrow."

"Friday," Mandy corrected him, sounding amused.

Lucas blushed again. "Oh! Right! Duh. We were just talking about it. Your daughter has ballet tomorrow. I'm so stupid. Friday. I'll see you Friday at six."

Mandy laughed. "You're not stupid. Trust me; it happens to me too—all the time. I will see you _Friday_ at six." Mandy said, still sounding amused. "I can hardly wait. Bye for now."

"Me neither, and bye," Lucas replied.

She then hung up.

Lucas hung up as well, and smiled to himself. Maybe Aiden was right. Maybe Mandy would be just what he needed to get over Adrienne.

 _ **~*came back to me*~**_

"I love dancing with you," Hope said as she and Aiden got off the dance floor, and Aiden held out her chair for her. She sat down and he gently pushed her chair back in. "Which reminds me, we need to pick the music for our wedding," she said as he sat back down across from her.

"Baby, whatever kind of music you'd like, I'll be fine with it. I just want to marry you. That is all I care about," Aiden said to her, gently taking his hands in hers from across the table.

Hope smiled. "That's sweet of you, but I really want you to be involved."

"All right. Would you prefer a DJ or a band? I personally like DJs better since you can have a variety of music. Unless we made a playlist, then a band could play all the songs we tell them to. But they'd have to be open to singing other people's songs. A DJ would already have a huge variety at hand."

Hope smiled. "I know who I'd like to play at our wedding, but it would never happen."

Aiden smiled, loving the way her eyes suddenly lit up. "Who?"

"Richard Marx. " Hope said with a big grin.

"Richard Marx?" Aiden asked. "Who's that?"

Hope raised an eyebrow at him. "You don't know who Richard Marx is? Surely you do."

Aiden shook his head. "I never heard of him."

"'Right Here Waiting for You.'" Hope tried.

Aiden shook his head.

"'Endless Summer Nights'?"

"The song from _Grease_?"

"No, that's just 'Summer Nights'."

Aiden shook his head. "It doesn't ring a bell then."

"'Should've Known Better'."

"Don't be so hard on yourself. I didn't listen to too much music growing up."

Hope rolled her eyes. "No, 'Should Have Known Better' is the name of one of his songs."

"Oh. No, it doesn't ring a bell either."

"Satisfied?"

"Is that a song or are you angry with me for not knowing who he is?" Aiden asked, a little worried.

Hope laughed. "It's one of his songs, Silly! That does it. As soon as we get home, I am pulling out my IPod and educating you on Richard Marx's greatest hits!"

"You do that. I'll listen," Aiden said with a smile. "Changing the subject a little… Remember when we mentioned about getting our own house and letting Shawn have your house?"

Hope nodded. "We can still do that."

"I'm happy to hear you say that because I've been looking around, and I found a wonderful piece of land that we could have our dream house built on. It's about fifteen minutes away from where we live now, and it is big enough to have a huge back yard with an indoor swimming pool, which of course we would get fenced in. It's two acres of land, so we'd still have a lot of room left for the twins to run and play when they get a little older. You can have anything you want built in our house. It's in a very nice neighborhood."

"I'd like to see it first of course, but it sounds amazing," Hope said.

Aiden nodded. "After dinner we can drive by and see it. I already talked to Casey. He said he's going to talk to some of his fellow contracting buddies and they can build it on non- work hours for a much cheaper price than we'd pay a construction company. Casey said he can get enough guys to help so that they can build us our home by October at the latest."

Hope smirked. "You really put some thought into this, huh?"

Aiden nodded. "And remember when we talked about having an atrium with a glass roof to be able to dance underneath the stars at night, just the two of us?"

Hope smiled. "I remember. Gosh that seemed like ages ago."

"Does that still sound like something you'd like?" Aiden asked her.

Hope nodded. "It sounds like Heaven."

"I want our new home to be special. Someplace that is just ours and ours alone," Aiden said, gently squeezing her hand from across the table. "Well, ours and the twins."

She took his hand and kissed it, her eyes filled with love as they locked with his eyes."It will be. I promise!"

They smiled at each other, and then spent the rest of dinner talking animatedly about what they'd like to have in their house.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

"The twins would have a ton of room to run and play. We can even put a swing set out here and have baby swings for now, and then switch them out for regular swings once they get older. You know how they both love their indoor baby swings at home," Hope said. Now that she was looking at the land Aiden had picked out, she was getting excited with the prospect of having a house built there. The land was quite vast. "Can we afford this?"

Aiden nodded. "We can easily afford it with our combined salaries. It's two acres. Casey was even talking about possibly buying the two acres beside our land and building a house for himself as well. He says he'd build our house first, but when it's done, he feels he'll be ready for a place of his own. He's been saving money for years, and has enough to buy his two acres."

"Well, it sounds like a perfect plan. I'm not sure I like the idea of Chase living across the way from us if he and Carol move in with Casey, but it would be nice to have babysitters right across the way," Hope commented.

"I'm sure by then he and Bridgette might be living together anyway. He's already over at her place half the time. Maybe they could even move into the condo together. It's going to be many months away anyway. We'll figure it out by then," Aiden assured her as he gently stroked her hair.

She took his hands in hers and smiled while looking into his eyes with mischief. "Let's do it!"

"Right here? I'm up for it, but maybe we should wait until it gets a little darker at least," Aiden teased.

Hope playfully swatted his chest. "You know what I mean! Let's buy the land. Let's have our house built here!"

Aiden grinned. "I'll get started on the process first thing tomorrow."

"Maybe we can even get a hot tub outside inside of one of those hot tub houses," Hope suggested with excitement.

"Anything my baby wants, my baby's gonna get!"Aiden said to her.

Hope took his hand and smiled, then smiled even wider as they overlooked the land. The stars were just starting to appear. "It's going to be beautiful," she said.

"With you living here, how could it not be?" Aiden asked her.

Hope looked at him with happy tears in her eyes. She then pulled him close and kissed him softly. "Come on. Let's go get the twins from Carol." Lucas upon request had packed up the twins and brought them over to Carol's once his shift was over. She had agreed to watch them while they were at dinner.

"I bet Carol's ready to pull her hair out," Aiden said with a grin.

Hope laughed. "Probably. At least Maddie's not as fussy as she used to be."

"Just wait until the terrible twos hit," Aiden replied.

Hope groaned. "Don't remind me."

"We'll get through it together," Aiden said, squeezing her hand as they headed back to the car.

Hope nodded. "Together," she agreed with a smile, her head resting on Aiden's shoulder.


	78. S4E3

_**This Love…**_

 _ **Season 4 Episode 3: Crush**_

"Well, the tailor has come and taken Jake's measurements, and the doggy suit is officially being made for the wedding." Hope paused. "What has my life come to?"

Aiden wrapped his arms around her from behind and kissed her cheek. "Thank you for doing this. Allowing Jake to be in the wedding I mean. It makes Casey happy, which makes my sister happy, and therefore it makes _me_ happy."

Hope turned herself around so that she could take Aiden into her arms. "And if it makes you happy then it makes me happy." She kissed him lovingly on the lips. "I really don't mind. True, it's not conventional, but it's not like no one has ever had a dog in their wedding before. Granted it's usually their own dog and not their friends' dog, but Jake is cute, so it's fine." She grinned.

"Maybe we could get a dog of our own. You know, with our new house and everything," Aiden suggested as he sat down on the couch.

Hope sat down next to him. "Maybe. I've never had a dog."

Aiden turned to her. "You've never had a dog?"

Hope shook her head.

"Not even a cat?" Aiden asked in shock.

Hope shrugged. "Nope! No pets ever. At least not that I can remember."

"What is it with the people in Salem? Not one of them owns a pet," Aiden stated. "Well, I think we should get a dog and a cat. Or two dogs and two cats."

Hope shrugged. "Maybe when the twins are a bit older. I don't want a dog knocking them down or a cat scratching them senseless."

"If we get well-behaved pets, they wouldn't do that," Aiden stated. It had been a while since he had a pet, and frankly he missed it.

"Well, we don't even have our house designed yet, let alone built, so we can decide about pets when the time comes," Hope said simply.

Aiden suddenly remembered something. "By the way, tonight a client of mine, Dr. Marshall Davis—the one whose daughter I set Lucas up with—wants us to do dinner together on Friday. He said he would treat us to Carlivati's to thank me for setting his daughter up with Lucas. Apparently their first date is Friday too, but not at Carlivati's as far as I know."

Hope whistled. "Carlivati's? That new Italian place? Not only is it the most expensive restaurant in town, but it's nearly impossible to get into."

"Not when you're a doctor with money to spare I guess," Aiden said with a shrug.

"Well, sign me up! I'm always up for good food," Hope agreed. "But that leaves us with no babysitter for the twins if Lucas will be out on a date. Maybe Carol could do it?"

"She has a date night with Casey," Aiden informed her.

"I guess I could ask Shawn, but I think I saw his name on the schedule to work," Hope said. "He's filling in for Sam, who's home sick with the flu."

"Well, actually, I was thinking that Chase could watch them." Aiden winced; waiting for Hope to snap at him.

Hope was quite for a moment as she contemplated this. "I just keep being reminded of when he threw a pillow at me and made his brother fall." Her eyes narrowed. "He could have caused some serious damage to Haiden."

"It was an accident. He didn't mean to, and he felt terrible about it. He's in a better place of mind now. He loves his brother and sister. I've seen how he is with them. He treats them like they are his own," Aiden said simply.

Hope sighed. "I suppose he could watch them, but I want Bridgette here too."

"Bridgette has to work," Aiden said simply.

Hope raised an eyebrow at him. "How do you know?"

Aiden blushed. "I kind of already asked him if. I said that if it was okay with you, he and Bridgette could watch the twins on Friday for a couple of hours. He told me Bridgette has to work, but he could watch them for us if need be."

Hope sighed as she thought about it. She looked him in the eyes. "He watches them here. He will call one of us the moment something goes wrong if, Heaven forbid, it does."

Aiden nodded. "I wouldn't have it any other way. He's responsible, Hope. He's not the same troubled kid he was when he…"

Hope raised an eyebrow. "When he raped my daughter?"

Aiden looked down to his lap. "Yes, that." He looked Hope in the eyes then. "I'll never forgive myself for that."

Hope's expression softened, and she gently rubbed his shoulder. "Don't be silly. You had nothing to do with it. You weren't even here when it happened."

"But had I not gotten mixed up with the Dimeras, I would have been there for him, and maybe then he wouldn't have been so messed up," Aiden said quietly.

"Look at me." Hope gently turned his face so that he was looking at her. "Chase was responsible for his own actions. _Only_ Chase. No one else was to blame. That being said, I can see how deeply sorry and repentant he is, so I will forgive him just as Ciara has. I know he loves the twins. I see it too when he smiles at them and sings to them. Heck, they both seem calmer with him—even Maddie. So I will give him this chance to watch them, but he had better be responsible and be on his best behavior."

Aiden nodded. "He will. I promise." He crossed his heart.

Hope kissed his cheek then. "All right! You can tell the doctor that we will be delighted to join him for dinner, and you can tell Chase that he has the job."

"Thank you, my Love. You won't regret it, I promise!" Aiden told her, standing up with her.

She kissed him. "I know I won't," she said, her forehead head resting against his.

"Why don't you go pick out a pretty dress to wear for dinner? Don't even worry about the cost," Aiden said digging out a credit card and handing it to her. He kissed her. "My baby deserves nothing but the best!"

Hope kissed him back. "I already have the best," she said, gently stroking her cheek. She kissed his lips again, and then grinned. "But I never was one to turn down the offer of a new dress!"

Aiden laughed.

They kissed again, and then he headed back to work, and she headed out to shop, thankful that she had a day off today to shop.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

Friday arrived, and Lucas was nervous about his date. He hadn't dated anyone since Adrienne. He hated the dating scene. It was always so awkward and uncomfortable. He had thought once he and Adrienne were together that his days on the dating seen were over. Boy had he been wrong.

He shook the thought from his mind and pulled his bright blue Ralph Lauren sweater over his white button down dress shirt. He wore blue jeans, bright blue socks to match his shirt, and brown dress shoes. They had decided to for a semi-casual date since it was their first date. They didn't want to go all out and feel even more awkward. They wanted to keep it simple. That meant dinner at The Square and then a movie at the theater. It was a typical date activity that they both felt comfortable with.

Fifteen minutes later, he was at The Square. He had wanted to pick her up, but since she lived twenty minutes away, and wanted time to shower and change for the date after work anyway, she had insisted that she just meet him at the square.

He was nervous when he arrived and didn't see her there. He waited ten minutes, and when she still wasn't there, he tried calling her on her cell phone. It rang four times before her voicemail picked up. He hung up without leaving a message. "Well, Lucas," he said to himself, "it looks like not even a set up is interested in you." He figured she wasn't ready to date after all. Even so, the least she could have done was call, he figured.

He got a table and sat down even though he was suddenly not that hungry anymore. Even so, he was there, and it was dinnertime. He figured he might as well eat.

Before the waitress appeared, and before he even had time to feel sorry for himself, Mandy appeared breathless at the table. "Lucas?"

Lucas smiled; relieved. "Mandy! Hi!" He stood up. "I was afraid you were standing me up. I tried calling you."

She winced. "Sorry. I'm a full-grown adult, but my father still doesn't like the thought of me having blue tooth in my car. He says that hands-free talking is just as distracting as talking on the phone itself while driving. He's a doctor, so he's has many patients who get into car wrecks. It caused him to be paranoid and over protective. Anyway, I'm sorry. My sitter called at the last minute sick with the flu. On top of that, at work I had a color that took longer, so I was already home later than expected. I'm a hairdresser by the way. I have my own salon. It's just been such a stressful day"

"I'm sorry to hear that," Lucas held her chair out for her. "Please, sit down and relax. It sounds like you need it."

"Such a gentleman! You already score high points with me," Mandy said with a smile as she sat down. "Thank you. So anyway, I had to practically beg my friend to cancel date night with her husband so that she could watch Kimmy, my daughter. I had to promise her free hair cuts and coloring for two months!"

"Well, at least you didn't have to cancel our date. I promise you, going out with me tonight will be worth the two months of hair cuts and color," he teased. "Unless the movie sucks, then you may want to kick yourself for wasting free cuts and colors on a stupid date with me."

Mandy laughed, and her laughter was like tinkling bells to Lucas. He loved it. And she really looked like Reece Witherspoon—even more so in person.

"Don't worry. I highly doubt it won't be worth it." She smiled at him.

"I hate when married people call it 'date night'. It's not a date anymore. You stopped dating once you got married. I mean, which is it? Do you want to still be dating, or do you want to be married?" Lucas asked.

Mandy nodded. "I know! That always bugs me too! You're married. You're just going out places together like you normally do. There's no need to try to romanticize it like you're in your teens or early twenties again."

"Exactly!" Lucas said.

The waitress came then, and gave them their menus to look over.

"What do you suggest here? I've never been here before," Mandy asked.

"I know most everyone in Salem prefers Pete's Pizza, but I actually prefer the square's pizza. Plus their smalls are so big, they can easily feed two and still have enough extra for the next day," Lucas recommended.

"Well, seeing as I've never been to Pete's, I don't have anything to compare it to, but I'm all for trying it. Wanna split one?" Mandy asked. "But I like to eat, so I wouldn't count on extras this time." She grinned slyly.

Lucas laughed. "Sure. How do you feel about Hawaiian?"

Her eyes lit up. "Hawaiian is my favorite!"

Lucas grinned. "Me too."

"It's not that I don't drink alcohol, but since I'm driving home after the movie, and since it is pizza we'll be eating, I kind of want a big pitcher of soda. I love Cherry Pepsi," she said.

Lucas nodded. "Cherry Pepsi it is then! I like soda too. Just not diet." He didn't want to lay the fact on her that he was a recovering alcoholic. It wasn't a proper first date topic.

Mandy wrinkled her nose. "Diet shouldn't even be a thing. It leaves a nasty after taste, and I heard they have aspartame in it, which is the same thing they use in embalming fluid."

Lucas wrinkled his nose as well. "Even more of a reason not to like it! I know exactly what you mean about the after taste."

"So, two pitchers of cherry Pepsi then?" Mandy asked.

"You want your own?" Lucas asked in amazement.

Mandy nodded. "I can drink as good as I can eat!"

Lucas nodded. "Two pitchers it is then!" He smiled. He liked her. She wasn't afraid to be honest with him. What you see is what you got with her, and after the women he had dated in the past, this was a very nice, refreshing change.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

"You look so beautiful tonight, Hope. Then again, you always look beautiful." Aiden place his hand over her bare back. She was wearing a red sequined dress with a low back. It usually wasn't her style, but for some reason she had liked it and chosen to buy it. He was glad she had. Especially since it was low cut. And high-slited.

"Are you sure? Now that I have it on, I feel kind of trashy," she said. "It didn't look this bad on the rack. I guess I should have tried it on before buying it." She tugged at it. It hugged every curve of her body like a glove.

"It's perfect." He brushed his lips against her ear. "But it's going to have to come off once we get home," he murmured.

Hope smiled. "Why would that be, Mr. Jennings?" Her voice was a gentle purr.

Before Aiden could reply, Dr. Davis appeared behind them.

"Hello! You must be Hope. I'm Dr. Marshall Davis." He took her hand in his own and kissed it. "But you can feel free to call me Marshall."

Hope smiled. "Hello, Marshall. Yes, I'm Hope. It's a pleasure to meet you. Thank you for having us both tonight. I've been wanting to eat here, but it's such a hard place to get in."

"It helps when you've given the owner a quadruple bypass and he came out with flying colors," he said quietly in her ear.

Hope laughed. "I bet!"

Dr. Marshall Davis, Hope noted, was fairly good looking. He looked to be around her age. He had some age lines around his eyes, but they gave him character. He was of average build, tall, with blue eyes and sandy-colored short hair. He reminded her a bit of George Clooney. He was attractive, but not nearly as sexy as Aiden, she thought. She took Aiden's hand and smiled adoringly up at him. As far as she was concerned, she was going to be marrying the handsomest man on earth and no one could ever compare to him.

The host sat them, and Aiden held out Hope's chair for her.

She smiled. "Thank you, my love." She kissed him before sitting down.

"You're very welcome, Baby." He kissed her cheek, and pushed her chair back in.

They sat down as the waiter instantly appeared to pour them ice waters. "Would you like to order anything else to drink? Their waiter asked.

"Do you guys like Ace of Spades Champaign?" Dr. Marshall asked them. "It's my favorite." He grinned like a Cheshire cat.

"I've never had it before," Hope said with a polite smile. She looked at the menu and was shocked to see that it was a three-hundred-dollar Champaign.

"I can't say I've ever had it before either," Aiden commented.

"Really? It's to die for. You absolutely _must_ try some." Dr. Davis turned to the waiter. "We'll have a bottle of the Ace of Spades."

The waiter nodded. "Coming right up, Doctor."

Hope raised an eyebrow. "Do they all know you here?"

Dr. Davis nodded. "Pretty much. I come here at least twice a week. I love it so much."

Hope and Aiden glanced at each other. At twice a week, he had to be rolling in the dough, they knew. Then again, if he was ordering three-hundred-dollar Champaign, they already knew he was.

Over the next hour, they had a delightful dinner. Dr. Davis was funny and charming, Hope realized. He and Aiden got along smashingly as if they had been old friends for years. Dr. Davis had them both laughing with stories of all the funny things he saw patients come in for. One man had even come in with five Boston Bakes beans stuck up his nose on a dare gone wrong.

"Who even thinks up these dares? Especially adults?" Aiden asked. The guy Dr. Davis was telling them about was in his early thirties, according to Dr. Davis.

Dr. Davis shook his head. "You'd be surprised. The teens are even worse though. Sadly, I can't even name the amount of teens I had to treat for stomach problems that they got due to that Tide Pod challenge a few years ago."

Hope shook her head. "Growing up, having your mouth washed out with soap was considered a punishment. Now it's considered a fun thing to do for You Tube."

Dr. Davis chuckled. "Exactly!"

"Well, before the chocolate soufflés get here, I have to use the gentleman's room." Aiden got up and kissed Hope's cheek. "I'll be right back."

Hope smiled at him and gently took his hand for a brief second. "Okay."

As soon as he was gone, Dr. Davis turned to Hope. "Would you like to dance? I absolutely love this song, but I would look a little silly dancing out there by myself." He smiled and winked at her.

Hope laughed. "Aw, why not?" It might be fun to see it!"

He pouted.

"I'm just kidding. I'd love to dance with you." She figured it was the least she could do after he was so nice to treat her and Aiden out to dinner.

They danced without speaking for a moment, and then suddenly, she felt his fingers brushing slowly up and down her back. "You truly are even more beautiful in person than you are in pictures. I didn't think that was possible," he murmured to her in her ear.

She looked at him; startled. "Um, thanks," she said with a weak smile as she awkwardly pushed some hair behind her ear.

Thankfully, Aiden came back from the bathroom right then, and walked over to them. "May I cut in?" he asked with an oblivious smile.

"Of course! But I think our soufflés have just arrived." Dr. Davis nodded toward their table where the waiter was indeed setting their chocolate soufflés on the table.

"Oo, just in time!" Aiden said, taking Hope's hand.

They all headed back to the table.

Hope smiled as Aiden held her chair out for her again and she sat down. Dr. Davis had made her uncomfortable, but it was probably harmless, she figured. She didn't want to upset Aiden over nothing. So, instead of mentioning it, she pretended it never happened, and just enjoyed her chocolate soufflé while listening to Aiden's stories about some of his weirdest clients from when he had first officially become a lawyer.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

"Babies, please don't cry. You're going to make me look bad! I really need you guys to behave so that Hope will stop hating me," Chase said to his siblings. He was holding them both at the same time while they cried simultaneously.

He sat down on the couch with them, very carefully grabbed their bottles from the coffee table, and then balanced the twins in such a way on his lap that he was able to feed them at the same time by crossing his arms. Finally, they both quieted down as they drank their bottles. After this, he was going to change them, and then hopefully, they would sleep at least until Hope and Aiden got home.

"You guys really do look like your daddy," he said to them. "Well, Maddie, you have your mommy's features too. That's a good thing though because you don't want to look totally like your daddy since you're a girl, right?"

Maddie just looked at him with her big blue eyes that were just starting to get a hint of green in them. She even had a little bit of brown hair. Just a little though. Haiden had a few wisps of sandy color hair, but not as much hair as his sister had. His eyes were still blue, and he preferred to drink with his eyes half closed.

When they were finished. He carefully set the bottles down, and then burped them over his shoulders—one per shoulder. He had geniously made sure to drape burp cloths over his shoulders before he had even picked the twins up.

After getting them both to successfully burp, he carried them upstairs and put them on the changing table, bottom to bottom. He was careful to make sure Haiden didn't pee on him as he changed him, then he quickly diapered him up with a fresh, clean diaper, and put his Oscar pajamas on him. Next, he changed Maddie, and placed her Grungetta pajamas on her. He wondered if they were even old enough to watch _Sesame Street_ yet. He doubted it, but their pajamas were cute on them anyway, he noticed. He smiled at them, feeling his heart swell for his baby half brother and baby half sister.

He picked up Haiden first, and tucked him into his crib. He was already sleeping. He loved to sleep. It was his favorite pastime.

He then went over to Maddie, who had just started to roll off the changing table.

His heart was in his throat as he caught her just in time.

She started to cry, and his heart was still pounding like a jackhammer.

"Shh… You'll wake your brother!" he said gently. He held her close against his chest and gently rocked her. "Shh… Baby don't cry. I'm sorry. I forgot that babies roll sometimes. I got you. You're safe." He then sat down in the rocking chair with her and quietly began to sing Backstreet Boys' "Madeleine" to her; the song she was named after; while he rocked her.

" _Madeleine, what's up with those tears in your eyes?"_

One verse in, and her cries turned to whimpers, and by the second verse, she was no longer crying. She looked like she was drifting off to sleep.

He sang her the rest of the song just to make sure, and then he carefully put her back into her crib, and she was out.

He sighed with relief, and then after making sure the baby monitor was on, he headed back down to clean up after himself. He had made dinner for himself earlier, and the twins had played with their toys while he had, so he had some work to do to get it back to the way it was before he had arrived earlier that day.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

"Aiden had gone to pull the car up, and he let Hope wait in the restaurant since it was starting to rain. As he did that, Dr. Davis touched Hope's arm. "I hope I didn't make you uncomfortable earlier when we were dancing. I didn't mean to sound like I was coming on to you. I mean, don't get me wrong, yes I think you're beautiful, but I was just trying to give you a compliment. My apologies if I got too touchy-feely. Being a doctor, I'm just used to touching my patients. Not touching them, but… Oh, you know what I mean, right?" he asked her.

Hope smiled, suddenly feeling silly for having read too much into it. "I know what you mean." She laughed. "First meetings can always be kind of awkward, right?"

He nodded. "Exactly! Well, if the three of us ever get together again, I'll try not to be so awkward next time." He smirked and winked at her.

She laughed. "Deal! And next time it's our treat. Though I can't promise you somewhere as nice as Carlivati's. Sadly we don't quite have the connections you do. But I do have an aunt who owns Chez Rouge, and I think their food is quite wonderful too. I'm not just staying that because the owner is my aunt either." She smiled and winked at him in return.

He laughed. "Good to know, but there's really no need to treat me. This was just a thank you to Aiden for helping me win my case."

Aiden arrived at the front of the restaurant then and jumped out to shake Dr. Davis' hand and wish him farewell. They bid ado to each other, and promised to get together again real soon. Aiden agreed that they would treat him to Chez Rouge when Hope mentioned it to him.

Aiden then held Hope's door open for her, and they went their separate ways, Hope and Aiden and Dr. Marshall Davis.

"That was a very nice night, wasn't it?" Aiden asked on their way home.

Hope smiled at him. "It was, wasn't it?" She whistled. "Boy does he have money! Three hundred dollars for one bottle of Champaign?"

"I know, right? And we each only had a glass. It was nice of him to offer the rest of the bottle to us, but since he paid for it, I'd have felt too guilty taking it."

"Me too," Hope agreed.

When they got home, they found Chase sitting on the couch watching TV. The living room was spotless—even nicer than when they had left it.

"How did the twins do?" Hope asked him.

"They did just fine. They got a little fussy, but it was nothing a good bottle couldn't fix. I burped them and changed them, and then put them both to bed. I had to sing Maddie to sleep, but it worked like a charm." He left out the part about Maddie almost rolling off the changing table, but what Hope didn't know wouldn't hurt her. He was just grateful both twins weren't old enough to talk yet.

Hope went up to check on them, and was pleased to see them both sleeping peacefully. Haiden even had his thumb in his mouth. Aiden showed up beside her with a hand over her back and smiled. "How precious!" he whispered.

Hope smiled over at him. "Isn't he? I wish it wasn't so dark, I'd take a picture."

They headed back downstairs after gently shutting the door behind them.

"Thank you, Chase. You did very well tonight. How much do we owe you?" Hope asked, heading for her purse.

Chase shook his head. "Letting me have time with them by myself and trusting me to watch them was payment enough."

Hope was touched. She handed him a twenty anyway. She smiled at him. "That's sweet of you, but I really must insist. Buy Bridgette something nice."

Chase smiled, and took the money. "Thank you. I will."

They said their goodnights to Chase, and then Hope headed into the kitchen. She came back out a moment later. "He even cleaned the kitchen! I'm impressed!"

Aiden grinned proudly. "See? I told you you could trust him!"

Hope nodded. "Yes, you did." She draped her arms over his shoulders and kicked of her red patent leather heels. "I'm pooped. I want a nice warm bubble bath, and then, Mr. Jennings, I want to fall asleep in your arms while watching TV."

"Can I at least take your dress off for you and wash your back?" he asked, an eyebrow raised.

She pulled him close. "Only if you promise to be a bad boy," she purred seductively into his ear.

He moaned, and she smiled over her shoulder at him as she headed up the stairs. "Are you coming up?"

He loosened his tie and nodded. "Just let me get the lights."

He made sure that all the lights were off and that the doors were all locked, and then he raced up the stairs, ready to finish off the rest of the night with the woman of his dreams.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

"Well, tonight was wonderful, and the movie didn't suck, so bonus points!" Mandy said to Lucas.

Lucas smiled adoringly at her. She was wearing a pink sweater with jeans and grey knee-high boots. She looked younger than her age, but oh so beautiful. "I'd like to see you again if that is something you'd like too."

She kissed his cheek."You have my number. I really enjoyed tonight, Lucas."

"I did too," he said. Then he asked cautiously. "Can I kiss you?"

"That remains to be seen. Can you?" she asked with an eyebrow raised and her pretty pink glossed lips in a smirk.

Lucas closed his eyes and slowly leaned in to kiss her. Her lips were soft and tasted of her strawberry gloss. He knew he had only just met her, but he already felt like he was in love. He had realized over dinner that they had so much in common, and their views were very much the same on a lot of things.

When he pulled away, he slowly opened his eyes and she was smiling at him. "You better definitely call me, and if you don't, I'll call you." She kissed his cheek. "Goodnight, Lucas," she purred.

"Goodnight, Mandy," he said, feeling his knees go weak as she smiled at him.

As he watched her go, he knew that without a doubt that he would be calling her again.


	79. S4E4

_**This Love…**_

 _ **Season 4 Episode 4: Telephone**_

Carol modeled her royal purple bridesmaid dress for Casey at the condo. "How do I look?" she asked as she twirled around in it, giving him a view of the dress from all angles.

"Beautiful! But you'd look beautiful wearing a potato sack," Casey said, pulling her close to him and kissing her softly on the lips. "You know," he then added as he rested his forehead against hers, "I think you'd make an even more beautiful bride."

Carol pulled away from him and wrinkled her nose. "And marry my brother instead of Hope? Gross! I'm not from the south!" She smirked.

"Watch it! I'm from the south and despite the cliché, we don't all get involved with incest. Anyway, you know what I mean." Casey looked annoyed.

Carol gently placed a hand over his arm. "I'm sorry," she said softly. "I was only joking."

Casey's expression softened. "I know. I'm the one who's sorry. I just don't like when you make jokes about me wanting to marry you."

Carol was quiet for a moment. "Are you proposing to me?"

Casey shook his head. "Not yet. I'll let Hope have the attention all on her. But I would like to marry you some day soon, Carol. I can't pretend it hasn't been on my mind because it has been… a _lot_."

"We've only been dating for a little over half a year," Carol reminded him.

"Seven months and two weeks to be exact. Some people marry after knowing each other for less time than that," Casey noted. "Heck, it's rare, but some people have been known to marry after having only known each other for a day!"

Carol laughed. "And I bet most of those marriages ended in divorce." _Most marriages do nowadays,_ she thought, but kept that part to herself. She knew all about divorce. Heck, she'd been through three divorces and an annulment after all.

"Well, ours wouldn't. I would cherish you for the rest of my life if you were my bride." Casey kissed her cheek.

Thankfully, the topic then turned to Casey building Hope and Aiden's house for them then. He already had an architect and six contracting friends that had agreed to take on the job at a fraction of the price it would have cost Hope and Aiden normally. He was excited to tell Aiden about it.

"It's so nice of you to do that for them! I know they will greatly appreciate it," she said.

"Well, I'm happy to do it. After all, they're family! At least they could be family one day." He winked and smiled at her.

She smiled back at him. She may not have been ready to get married yet, but it still touched her that he considered them family, and what he was doing for them was a very nice thing to do.

They spent the rest of the night eating Chinese takeout for dinner and watching horror movies. Then Casey spent the night since the movies had freaked Carol out a bit and she didn't want to spend the night alone. Chase was spending the night at Bridgette's as he did from time to time. Carol was grateful that Casey didn't mention marriage again for the rest of the night. She loved him, she really did. But she had tried the marriage thing several times and failed. She wasn't eager for another fail. Besides, she thought as she rested her head on his chest that night, she liked the way things currently were just fine. She fell asleep feeling peaceful and safe in Casey's arms with Jake lying on his doggy bed on the floor at the foot of her bed.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

"Do you think having six bedrooms would be too showy?" Hope asked as she and Aiden sat in bed and wrote down all the things they wanted in their new home. They were both excited when Casey called them and told them that he had found the perfect architect and team of construction workers to build their house. Hope was eager to plan everything out now.

Aiden kissed her cheek and gently rubbed her stomach. "Baby, if you wanted _fifteen_ bedrooms I'd be happy. I told you, if it makes _you_ happy then it makes _me_ happy. Forget what everyone else thinks. It doesn't matter. It's not their house; it's ours."

Hope smiled at him and kissed his lips. She then turned her attention back at her list. "I want us to have a bedroom of course, and the twins to each have their own room. I'd like a room for Ciara, and a room for Shawn. I know they won't be staying with us that often. Especially Shawn wouldn't since he would have no reason to. Still, I'd like for him to have a room. Then of course we should have a spare bedroom."

"I take it Chase isn't allowed in our house?" Aiden asked in an even tone.

Hope looked at him. "I suppose he could, but it's up to Ciara if she wants him there on nights she is going to be there. And I'm sorry, but he is not living with us, so don't even ask!"

Aiden looked hurt. "I wouldn't dream of it. I just thought that if he is ever babysitting the twins late one night, he might want to stay over. I thought maybe a room for him too might be nice."

Hope's expression softened. "I'm sorry. You know, why don't we just leave it at a few spare bedrooms in general? No room for anyone in particular. Just rooms. That way, we can house a few guests at a time, whoever they might be."

Aiden smiled. "I like that idea."

"Chances are the three of them won't all be staying here at the same time anyway," Hope commented. "And of course we'll want the third floor to be our atrium with the glassed in roof.

"Unbreakable glass of course," Aiden added.

Hope nodded. "Of course." She made note of it.

"We'll want a fenced in yard with an in ground pool and a hot tub room," Aiden added.

"Maybe we could make it a big enough room to have the pool in it too so that we can swim year round," Hope suggested.

Aiden nodded his eyes wide with excitement. "I'd love that!"

Hope grinned and made note of that also. She then smiled at Aiden. "This is so exciting!"

Aiden wrapped an arm around her. "It will sure feel great to finally have a home that's just ours." He ran a hand under her shirt, letting his fingers gently run over the smooth expanse of her bare stomach. He then pushed down one of her night gown straps and kissed her shoulder.

"I'd like to have four full baths. Ours being in our room and the biggest of course. Maybe we could even have a hot tub in our bathroom." She looked at him. "What do you think?"

Aiden gently took her notebook and pen away from her.

"Hey!" Hope protested.

He set them on the night stand and turned off the lights. "I think it's getting late and I want to make love to my wife before falling asleep holding her close to me," he murmured against her neck.

She smiled. "Well, I certainly can't argue with that!"

They grinned at each other, and then began kissing as Aiden gently pinned her down beneath him. Moments later, their kisses turned to more.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

Bridgette smiled and pushed some hair behind her ear as Max told her how pretty she was.

"You really are the best dancer at the club. I bet everyone comes to see mainly you," Max told her before sipping his wine. He was treating her to dinner before her show.

"I'm sure every one of us dancers has someone that comes solely for them. It's not all about me," she said modestly.

"Well, I personally would pay to see you and only you," Max said simply.

Bridgette smirked. "I think that would get boring after a bit, but thank you." She sipped her lemon water.

"Do you want any dessert?" Max asked her once they had finished their meal.

Bridgette pat her stomach. "No thanks. I don't want to feel bloated when I go on stage tonight."

"I'm sure you'd still out dance the whole club," he said to her. He motioned to the waiter and paid their check.

Later, as they were leaving, he placed a hand over her back. "You didn't tell Chase you were going out to dinner with me, did you?"

Bridgette shook her head. "I never tell him when I hang out with you. He gets so worked up over it. He thinks you have a crush on me or something." She laughed at the thought. "It's easier just to tell him I'm out with my friend Jessica."

They had gone out to meals together a few times now. Bridgette just liked his company. It was nice having a male friend beside Chase. She could get the male perspective of things without it being a bias opinion like it would have been with Chase.

"But I _do_ have a crush on you," he teased.

She rolled her eyes. "Yes, but you'd never act on it. You're happy just being friends with me."

Max smiled at her, and then looked away with a more serious expression. Of course he wasn't okay with being just friends with her, but there was no need to tell her that. Not yet anyway…

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

The following week, Aiden was surprised to get a call from Dr. Davis again about another malpractice suit. This time he was being sued by a young woman who claimed he had prescribed the wrong thing to her mother. Her mother was being treated for diabetes and apparently the pump he had programmed had given her too much insulin at a time, ultimately prematurely ending her mother's life.

"The basal insulin rate was just as it should be when I set the pump up for her. She either wasn't eating healthy enough, or she messed it up on her own," Dr. Davis explained. "I can send you her records. The granddaughter apparently had her mother's pump checked after the fact, and it was faulty. She thinks I gave her a faulty pump, but in reality, there was no way in knowing it was faulty. Everything seemed to be working fine when I set her up with it. As I said, for all I know, she screwed it up herself. The pump can be tricky sometimes. She told me she understood how it worked, and what to do, but you know how some people don't want to admit they don't know how. They don't want to feel stupid."

Aiden set up another appointment with him to talk further on the matter. He found it odd that there was yet another case of malpractice against the good doctor, but Dr. Davis wasn't the first client of his with multiple malpractice suits, and he knew he wouldn't be the last.

"So, how is your beautiful wife-to-be doing?" Dr. Davis asked once they had set the appointment date. "Well, I hope?"

Aiden smiled at the mention of Hope. Even the mere mention of her name made his heart soar. "She's doing well! Thanks for asking. "You made me look bad though. She thought she had died and gone to Heaven when she got to eat at Carlivati's. You have better connections than I do." _And more money_ , he silently added.

"Well, I very much enjoyed her company. And yours too of course. You know, any time either of you want to eat at Carlivati's just let me know, and I will be more than happy to get you a reservation. I'll probably have to join you, but of course it will be my treat," Dr. Davis replied.

"You don't have to treat us again. One meal is already more than generous," Aiden said graciously. He couldn't believe how nice Dr. Davis was being.

"Maybe we could get together for dinner again on Friday? We can eat at Carlivati's again or maybe even that Chez Rouge place your fiancé told me about," Dr. Davis suggested.

Aiden looked over his appointment book. "I'm actually going to be in court that night with a client, but maybe the following Friday? This week and the beginning of next are just swamped."

"Next Friday sounds perfect! I will see you then," Dr. Davis replied.

"Actually, you will see me on Tuesday for our appointment," Aiden said with a smile.

Dr. Davis chuckled. "Silly me. I forgot that quickly. I swear sometimes I feel like I have Alzheimer's. I will see you Tuesday at ten A.M.."

"See you then!" Aiden confirmed before hanging up.

He sat back in his chair. It felt a little weird to be having dinner with one of his clients just because. But, Hope was invited too, and it felt nice to have a shared friend between them for once.

His next client arrived then, and all thoughts of Dr. Davis, evaporated from his mind.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

Hope was surprised to get a call at the station from a Doctor Davis. "Dr. Davis, what can I do for you?" she asked.

"I'm so sorry to call you at work, but I didn't know how else to get a hold of you," Dr. Davis said to her.

"You could have contacted my fiancé," she reminded him.

"I actually already talked to him. I wanted to talk to you now. I was just wondering if you would like to join me for dinner Friday night at Carlivati's." Dr. Davis asked her. "My treat again of course. Aiden is helping me out with another lawsuit, and I'd love to show my appreciation."

"It's really not necessary. It's what he does for a living," Hope reminded him.

"I know, but I still want to do this for him. I love giving to other people. It's what gives me joy. I love to either be helping people or giving to them. That is why I became a doctor," Dr. Davis explained.

"That's very kind of you, but Aiden is working Friday night. Didn't he tell you when you talked to him?" Hope was confused. It wasn't like Aiden to forget an appointment.

"No, he told me. We made plans for the three of us to get together next Friday instead. But I was wondering if you would join me this Friday as well. I have a surprise for Aiden that I wanted to talk over with you first. Plus I know how much you loved Carlivati's, so I figured I'd treat you again for being my sounding board," Dr. Davis said hopefully.

Hope felt a little weird going with the doctor to dinner by herself, but since it was a surprise for Aiden, she supposed there would be no harm in it. "Sure. What time do you have in mind?"

"Say, seven? Is that too late?" Dr. Davis asked.

Hope shook her head. "No, it's a perfect time. It will give me enough time to feed the twins and have them in bed for the nanny."

"Excellent! We can meet there. Unless you'd rather I pick you up?"

Hope shook her head, despite the fact he couldn't see her. "No, that's all right. I'll just meet you there. It will be easier that way. And don't even think about treating again. I'll treat this time."

"I really must insist it is my treat. All I ask in return is for you to tell me what you think about my surprise for Aiden," Dr. Davis replied.

"Well, it's very kind of you. Thank you," Hope said.

"Thank _you_! See you Friday at seven."

"See you then," Hope confirmed.

"Oh, and Hope?"

"Yes, Dr. Davis?"

"Please, call me Marshall. Don't tell Aiden about the dinner, okay? I don't want him having any clue about the surprise."

Hope hesitated for a moment. She hated keeping secrets, but since it was a surprise, she felt it was okay. "All right."

"Excellent! You have a great night now, and I will see you on Friday."

"Thanks. You too. Goodnight," Hope said.

They then hung up.

Hope felt it was a little weird that he wanted to go out to dinner instead of just telling her over the phone what the surprise was. But, if he was willing to get her in Carlivati's again, who was she to turn him down? She had only had one meal there, but it had been out of this world, and she was dying to try another dish. Besides, she didn't want to be rude to a client of Aiden's. As Aiden's future wife, she knew it was partly her job now to help keep his clients happy. Even if they did seem a little weird to her.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

That night after work, Bridgette got a call from Max. She answered with her blue tooth as she drove home. "Hello?"

"I just wanted to say you did fabulous tonight."

She smiled. "And you couldn't have told me this before I left?"

"I was caught up with some bartender drama. A guy pitched a fit when Sam refused to serve him anymore alcohol. The guy was drunk as a skunk. I had to get security involved."

"It's amazing the kind of losers we get at the club. It's the only bad part of being a dancer. Not all the clients are respectable," Bridgette said.

"Look, I wanted to ask you, do you think you could come over to the club tomorrow around three?" Max asked her.

"Why?" Bridgette asked; confused. "No one's there until five."

"I see some discrepancies in the books and I know you're better at math than I am. I was wondering if you could double check them for me. You're the only one I trust with them."

"What about Tracey?" Bridgette asked.

"For all I know, she's the one fudging them up!" Max replied.

Bridgette sighed. "I really don't think Tracey is like that."

"Please, Bridge? You're probably right, but for my own piece of mind?" Max begged.

Bridgette sighed again. "Fine. But just this one time!"

"Just this once! Thanks, Bridge. You're a life saver," Max replied.

Bridgette smiled. "You owe me one, Lovey," she said, just playing around.

"I know I do," Max replied.

"See you then." Bridgette hung up, and finished driving home, eager to see Chase. She always missed him when she was working or when he was.

Max hung up the phone on his end and grinned like the cat who had caught the canary. His scheme had worked. Tomorrow he would finally make Bridgette his.


	80. S4E5

_**This Love…**_

 _ **Season 4 Episode 5: Heat of the Moment**_

Bridgette entered the club. It felt weird going into the club when no one was around. Usually, the place was swarming with crew, but no one arrived until five today. Except for Max, apparently, who was there at three, wanting her to check out the discrepancies in the books.

Bridgette placed her purse on the bar, and headed to the back to find Max. She didn't know why he couldn't have just had her come in later to check the books. It all seemed strange to her, but then again, Max could be a little eccentric at times, she knew.

She found Max in his office. He had a nice big office complete with a comfortable couch and a huge mahogany desk. He even had his own 70-inch flat screen TV.

"Hey, I'm here," she said.

He grinned from behind his desk when she arrived, and stood up. "You look fantastic!"

She looked down at her silk and lace pink dress. Chase had always teased her that it looked like a piece of lingerie, but it wasn't sold as lingerie. It was silk with a lace overlay and baby pink, and therefore made her feel sexy and pretty. She had paired it with white lace up espadrilles. Her long blond hair hung wavy over her shoulders with one streak of metallic silver toward the front. "Thanks." She then looked back up at him. "So, where are the books?"

"We'll get to them. There's no need to rush." He walked over to his mini fridge and took out a tiny bottle of vodka and held one out to her one while he took one for himself. "Let's toast to our friendship."

He was so close to her that she could smell his breath. She could tell he had already had one.

"Thanks, but it's a little early for me," she said, declining the bottle.

He shrugged. "It's five o'clock somewhere, right?"

She was starting to feel a little uncomfortable…especially when she saw that his eyes were on her breasts. She self-consciously pinched her dress together, wishing she hadn't worn something so low-cut to see him. "I really need to be going, so if I could just see those books…"

He set the bottles on his desk, and reached out to her. "Do you have a hot date with Chase or something?" He asked with a smirk.

"No, I just have lots of errands to run." Chase was visiting the twins, and now Bridgette found herself wishing she had told him where she'd be.

"You look so incredibly sexy in that dress," Max said, gently pushing one of the spaghetti straps down with his finger.

Bridgette quickly pushed the strap back up her shoulder. "Sorry to dissapoint you, but I didn't wear it for you," she said rather icily. She didn't appreciate anyone pawing at her. Especially someone who wasn't her boyfriend.

"Ah, come on. Don't be like that, Baby!" he whined.

She narrowed her eyes angrily at him. "I am not your baby."

He smirked. "You know a little part of you wanted to look sexy for me. You don't have to worry about Chase finding out. I won't tell him." And before Bridgette knew what was happening, he pulled her close and kissed her hard, trying to force his tongue in her mouth.

She roughly pushed him away. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

Max grinned. "I'm doing what I should have done months ago. Come on, Baby. You know you want it as much as I do. I can see it in the way you look at me and hear it in the way you talk to me." He tried to kiss her again.

This time, Bridgette slapped him. "Stop that right now! I'm sorry if you got the wrong impression, but I only see you as my boss and my friend, and now even friend is quickly becoming questionable."

"You call me Lovey all the time," he reminded her.

"I've called Jessica Lovey too. Heck, I've even called _cats_ Lovey before too. It's just a term of platonic endearment," Bridgette said, nonchalantly.

"Look at the way you dressed for me. Even if you didn't mean to, there was obviously something sub-conscious in you that wanted to look sexy for me," he said, grabbing for her again.

She stepped back out of his grasp. "It is all in your head, Max! I love Chase! But with or without Chase, I will only ever see you as my boss and my friend. I'm sorry, but that's the way it is and always will be." She was shaking now. "If you aren't going to show me the books, then I might as well just leave."

She turned to leave, but he caught her by the wrist. "You just need me to prove it to you that you love me!" he said, his eyes dark with desire.

Bridgette felt her heart sink to her stomach. She had never seen him look so deranged before. "Let me go!" she said, trying to pull free from him. But he was a strong man. He yanked her toward the couch, and pinned her down beneath him as he began kissing her roughly. "You'll see how much you love me," he growled, pinning both wrists above her head with one hand and moving his hand up under her dress to pull off her underwear.

"Max, what are you doing? Stop it!" She screamed, tears filling her eyes.

"You'll love it. You'll see," he said as he began undoing his jeans. He wasn't wearing a belt. It was as if he had known what he was going to do all along.

Bridgette squirmed, fighting with all her might, but it was to no avail. He was too strong for her. "Max, please. I'm begging you, don't do this! If you do this, we won't even be friends, let alone lovers."

He grinned at her. "Oh, we'll be lovers. In fact, we're about to be right now." He used his free hand to get his underwear and jeans down to his ankles.

She tried one last time to get him off her, but with the weight of his body on hers, and now with both of his hands pressing tightly down on her wrists, she knew it was pointless.

And then he was raping her.

Sobbing, and with tears streaming down her cheeks, she let her mind go elsewhere, silently praying it would all be over soon.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

"The twins are adorable, but I'm starved. Do you think we could go for lunch?" Mandy asked. She had come to visit Lucas at Hope and Aiden's. Hope had told Lucas earlier that Mandy could come meet the twins if she wanted to.

It was Mandy's day off from the salon she worked at, so she had decided to come over and see Lucas and the twins once given the okay to do so.

"Sure. We can do that. Just let me change the twins first and get them bundled up," he said to her. He then turned to Chase. "Chase, will you please help me?"

Chase nodded. "Sure."

"Actually, I was thinking we could go just you and me. Chase can stay with them. Can't you, Chase?" Mandy asked, looking at Chase expectantly as if she had known him for years instead of barely a half hour.

"I suppose I could," Chase said. "But I should be back by dinnertime. My girlfriend will wonder where I am."

"That's what cell phones are for," Mandy said with a grin.

"I really think I should stay here. Hope and Aiden are paying me to take care of them. They are my responsibility," Lucas said to her.

"You deserve a lunch break, don't you?" Even real jobs give you lunch breaks," Mandy quipped.

"This _is_ a real job," Lucas said, a little thrown by her sudden take charge attitude.

Mandy smirked. "You're basically a babysitter."

"I'm a nanny. There's a difference," Lucas said.

Mandy rolled her eyes. "Whatever. Can't you just call Hope and ask her if she minds?"

"I suppose so." Lucas turned to Chase. "Do you mind watching them for just an hour?"

Chase shook his head. "Not at all."

So, Lucas called Hope at work, though he hated to do so. But he didn't want to just leave them with Chase without her permission. Even if he was back before she got home, he wouldn't have felt right not asking her first. Thankfully, she was perfectly all right with him going for just an hour. She felt he deserved a lunch break, and no matter how she felt about Chase, she did trust him with the twins at least.

"It's all set. I'll be back in an hour. I promise. We won't go far," Lucas said to Chase. "They just got up from their naps before you got here, so they are due to have their bottles now. I can feed them before I leave if you don't want to."

"I'll feed them. I love feeding them," Chase told him.

Lucas nodded. "Thanks. I owe you one, man."

"Don't mention it. I love spending time with my sister and brother," Chase replied, kissing their foreheads. He smiled at them, and they both smiled back at him.

Lucas smiled too. He then put a hand over Mandy's back. "Let's go."

Once they were outside, Mandy's expression softened. "I'm sorry to be so bitchy. I get bitchy when I'm hungry. I didn't mean to be a jerk."

Lucas smiled. "It's all right. To tell you the truth, I can get bitchy when I'm hungry too."

They grinned at each other, and then headed to the car with their arms around each other.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

Bridgette wiped the tears from her eyes. It had only been five minutes, but they were the worst five minutes of her life. She had never felt more violated in her life. She had checked out in her mind, but even though she hadn't paid much attention to him raping her, she was still aware of his lips and hands all over her body. He collapsed on top of her out of breath and smiling. He kissed her right bare breast which he had uncovered while he was raping her. He then grabbed it roughly, causing her to wince as he did. He kissed her roughly on the mouth, and she wanted to throw up. "See? Wasn't that fantastic?" he asked her. "I even went nice and slow. Making love with me wasn't so bad, was it?"

He had been gentle with her—at least with the actual sex. But if he thought that because he had gone slow it constituted as making love, he had another thing coming.

Without waiting for an answer, he kissed her on the lips; softer this time. She was relieved when he finally got off of her, and stood up to redress.

She got up and put her underwear back on, then fixed her bra and pushed her dress strap back up. She had tears streaming silently down her cheeks. "That was not making love. I pleaded with you not to do it. You _raped_ me," she said to him quietly.

He suddenly turned to her with his eyes angry and flashing. "It was making love and you know it! You wanted it. You don't just come in here with a dress like that and call me things like "Lovey" without secretly wanting me."

She shook her head and laughed bitterly. "You are so delusional!" She then turned to leave, and screamed when he grabbed her arm roughly. She was terrified that he was going to rape her again.

He whipped her around to face him. "Don't even _think_ about going to the cops or you'll be sorry. I can make your life a living hell as well as Chase's. I'll make Chase believe that you wanted it, and that you're lying about me raping you. It's your word against mine."

She narrowed her eyes at him. "And who do you think he'll believe you or his girlfriend?"

He grinned wickedly. "Me of course. After all, you've been hanging out with me for quite some time just the two of us without telling him." He went to his desk, picked up his cell phone, and waved it at her. "I got all the text messages to prove it. That aside, I could also see to it that he's out of a job, and that you are too for that matter. I can make that happen even behind bars. I have my ways. Heck, I can even take it a step further and ruin his reputation like that!" He snapped his fingers. "I read up on him. He raped a girl. I have a bunch of honeys that will do anything for me—including claim that Chase raped them too."

Bridgette narrowed her eyes at him. "They'd have no proof."

He shrugged. "No, but I think in Chase's case just the allegations could cause him harm. No one wants to hire a rapist or even an alleged rapist. Especially when so many girls had made the claims."

"You're a monster!" Bridgette snapped.

He shrugged. "I have to do what I have to do to protect my back." He smirked. "So, do I make myself clear?"

Bridgette wiped the tears from her eyes. "Crystal."

He released her, and she headed toward the door.

"Oh, and Bridgette? You're an incredible lay. I can see why Chase loves you so much." He called after her.

She froze for just a second, and then practically bolted back out to the bar. She snatched her purse, and then left the club, trying her best not to get into an accident as she drove home with tears streaming down her cheeks.

 _ **~*came back to me*~**_

"Thank you so much for meeting me," Dr. Davis kissed Hope's hand as she met up with him at Carlivati's as planned.

"Thank you for inviting me," she said politely.

They were seated nearly right away, which was unheard of at Carlivati's, seeing as they were busy all the time.

Dr. Davis held out Hope's chair for her. They had the best table in the house—right next to the fireplace. She thanked him as he pushed her chair back in and took a seat across from her.

"I'm impressed," she said. "No waiting in line… We get seated right by the fireplace…."

Dr. Davis grinned sheepishly and shrugged. "What can I say? I guess it pays to be good at what you do," he said in reference to his having given a successful quadruple bypass to the owner.

Hope smiled. "Apparently." _And it also helps to be swimming with money…_ she added to herself when the waiter came and Dr. Davis ordered them a bottle of the most expensive wine on the menu. _A thousand dollars!_ She thought. For one bottle. She shook her head. She and Aiden weren't hurting in the money department, but neither one of them would ever dream of spending their money so frivolous. And she suspected that this doctor made even more money than they did combined.

"Order anything you would like," Dr. Davis said to her as they looked over their menus. "It's going to be my treat."

Hope looked at him. "Dr. Davis, I can't expect you to keep paying."

He looked up from his menu. "Of course you can! Trust me, I can afford it. I am the most successful doctor and surgeon at my hospital. Everything on this menu is pocket change to me. And please, call me Marshall."

Hope looked down at the menu with surprise. It had been a while since she had been around someone so matter-of-fact and open about their income. In some ways, it almost seemed rude to her. She never was a big fan of braggers. But he was nice, and he was treating her to a meal that was sure to be delicious, so she would ignore it. She was then reminded of the surprise he had said he had for Aiden. However, before she could inquire of it, the waiter appeared with their wine.

As the waiter poured the red liquid into her wine glass, she decided upon what she would like to eat. She chose something in the moderate price range—the filet mignon

Marshall chose the lobster. Even though Carlivati's was marketed mainly as an Italian restaurant, they had other random delicacies as well. It was a little strange to Hope, but regardless, she liked the variety, and judging from how busy Carlivati's always were, she knew the rest of their customers liked the variety as well.

"So, you said you have a surprise for Aiden?" Hope asked once the waiter had left to put their orders in.

Marshall nodded. "Ah, yes! As my wedding gift to you and Aiden, I would like to pay for your rehearsal dinner right here at Carlivati's. They have a huge banquet room in the back. It can hold up to fifty people. It would be just lovely for a rehearsal dinner. Everything would be on me of course. I know it's usually the groom's job to pay for the rehearsal dinner, but Aiden had mentioned to me that you and he are having a house built. That paired with the money you'll be spending on your wedding, I'm sure every penny counts and that relieving the weight of the rehearsal dinner cost would be a great help."

Hope was stunned. Aiden had only been his lawyer for a couple of months—if that. And she herself had only met him a couple times—counting tonight. Aside from having talked briefly on the phone with him about tonight of course. "Dr…. I mean, Marshall, this is extremely generous of you, but I assure you it isn't necessary. Aiden and I may not have as much money as you do, but we're certainly not hurting for money by any means." It felt so crass to be discussing the money she and Aiden made with anyone, let alone a man they barely knew, but at this point, she had no choice, really.

"I know that, but still. Please, let me do this for you both. Aiden is helping me out of some tough spots, and you two are such wonderful people. I have the money to spare, and it feels better to me to spend it on others instead of on myself," Marshall insisted. "And, not to sound pompous, but without me being involved, I don't think you could get Carlivati's on such short notice."

"Not to seem ungrateful, but Aiden and I aren't really flashy people. We don't really need a place like Carlivati's. And wouldn't your money be better suited to help out your daughter and granddaughter than it would be to spend it on us? I mean, you barely know us." Hope still couldn't believe his offer.

"Trust me, my daughter and granddaughter are going to be very well off when I'm gone. This rehearsal dinner isn't going to take a thing away from them. And I know you don't _need_ Carlivati's. Nobody really _needs_ to dine at fancy restaurants. But it's fun anyway, isn't it? And you've got to admit, the food is exquisite. It would be nice to show a place like this off to your friends and family. Wouldn't it be?" He grinned at her.

Hope grinned too, feeling her resolve start to crack just a little. "Well, yes, of course it is, and of course it would be."

Marshall clapped his hands together then. "Delightful! I shall talk to the owner and reserve the banquet room for April twenty-first."

Hope knew she should talk to Aiden about it first. She didn't know if he'd like the idea of letting another man pay for something that was technically his responsibility as the groom. After all, Aiden was a firm believer in tradition. However, Marshall looked so pleased that she didn't have the heart to tell him no. She also didn't want to be rude when he was making such a generous offer to them. And he was right. It would be a relief not to have this extra cost on them. She knew that building their house especially was going to be expensive—even with Casey and his crew working on it instead of a regular construction company.

She smiled. "Well, thank you so much for this incredible gift! I'm so very grateful, and I know that Aiden will be too."

"Don't mention it!" Marshall smiled, and took her hand in his from across the table. "I'm very happy to do it."

Hope looked at his hand and politely pulled her hand away. She smiled at him as she drank her wine, holding the glass with that hand, so as to cover up for her having pulled her hand away from his as she had. It somehow just hadn't felt right, and frankly, letting him pay for the rehearsal dinner didn't quite feel right either—wedding gift or not. But at this point, what choice did she really have?

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

"Hey. How did your case go?" Hope asked, referring to Aiden's night in court. The rest of her dinner with Marshall had been uneventful. He was very polite and after dinner and dessert, he had hugged her goodbye and promised to keep in touch with her about the rehearsal dinner.

Aiden had just arrived home and put his briefcase on the coffee table before pulling Hope close and greeting her with a kiss.

"It went fantastic! We won the case," Aiden said with a smile.

Hope grinned. "I'm not surprised. After all, your client has not only the best law firm in town representing him, but also the best lawyer in town representing him."

"You know flattery gets you everywhere," Aiden murmured as he kissed her again.

Hope hungrily kissed him in return.

"So, how was dinner with Kayla tonight?" he asked her as he sat down on the couch and pat the seat next to him, indicating for her to sit down as well.

Hope sat down, feeling guilty. "Actually, I have a confession to make. I wasn't with Kayla. I was with Marshall."

"Marshall Davis?" Aiden asked in surprised.

Hope nodded. "He would be the one."

"Then why did you tell me you were with Kayla? More importantly, why did you go out to dinner with him without me?" Aiden wasn't worried about an affair. He knew better than that. He trusted Hope completely. But the situation was odd, and he was curious. Maybe even a little uneasy, though he didn't quite know why he was feeling so uneasy.

"He asked me not to tell you until. He wanted to take me to dinner to discuss a surprise he had for you. He didn't want to discuss what the surprise was over the phone," Hope explained.

"What was the surprise?" Aiden calmed down a little, but he was still feeling uneasy.

"He wants to pay for our wedding rehearsal dinner. He's booking the banquet room at Carlivati's." Hope winced, waiting for him to get angry.

"You want it to be at Carlivati's?" Aiden asked.

Hope shrugged. "I honestly don't care where it is, but he wanted to do something nice for us and give this as his wedding present to us."

Aiden was confused. "But why? He barely knows us. I represented him in two malpractice cases, and very recently at that. Why is he spending so much money on us? He's acting like we've been longtime friends." He shook his head. "Not to be ungrateful, but it just seems weird to me."

Hope nodded. "It did to me too, but he insists that he just wants to thank you for helping him out. He also said that he feels better spending the money on other people than he does on himself."

"What about spending it on his daughter and grandchild?" Aiden asked.

Again, Hope nodded. "I asked him the same thing, but he assured me that nothing will be taken away from them, and that they will be well taken care of when he's gone."

"Well, if he wants to do this, I guess there is no harm in letting him. I don't want to be rude by declining—especially when he is a client of mine." Aiden said honestly.

Hope raised an eyebrow. "Really? I thought you'd be angry another man was paying for something you're supposed to pay for. Don't get me wrong, I agree with you for all the same reasons you mentioned that we should let him pay. But I just thought you wouldn't like it."

Aiden sighed. "To be honest with you, I'm not thrilled. I want to be able to provide for you all on my own. But Carlivati's is going to be a fortune to hold a dinner at. I want you to have a nice place for our rehearsal dinner, and if the only way for that to happen is if Marshall pays for it, then so be it. You come before my pride."

Hope gently stroked some hair out of his eyes. "Aiden, My Love, I don't care if we have the dinner at Mc. Donald's. As long as I'm marrying you, I don't care about anything else." She kissed him.

Aiden kissed her back, and gently stroked her hair. "How did I ever get to be so lucky to have you? Hm?"

She smiled. "The same way I got so lucky to have you."

They kissed some more.

"But you have to admit, Carlivati's is going to make far more of a kick ass dinner than Mc. Donald's would," Aiden said with a smirk.

Hope smirked too. "Hell yes it will!"

They both laughed,

Hope then took his hand and nodded toward the stairs. "Come on. I wanna take a bath before bed. If you wash my back for me, I'll give you a back rub in bed."

"Mm… Go run the bath water and I'll be right up," Aiden said to her.

They lovingly kissed, and then Hope smiled at him before heading up the stairs. "Don't be long."

"I won't be. I promise. I just want to get a drink of water and then turn the lights off and lock up," he assured her.

She nodded, and then ran up the stairs to the bathroom.

Aiden thought of Marshall as he went into the kitchen and got his water. There was just something unsettling about this whole situation, though he didn't know quite what is was yet. However, he planned to keep an extra close watch on Dr. Marshall Davis—for his own piece of mind if nothing else. He set his empty water glass down, and then locked all the doors and turned off all the downstairs lights. Then finally, he headed up to join Hope in her bath.


	81. S4E6

_**This Love…**_

 _ **Season 4 Episode 6: Dear Furture Husband**_

Earlier that day, when Bridgette had gotten back to her apartment, she was grateful that Chase wasn't there. She tossed the underwear, bra, and dress she had been wearing in the trash can, and then took a long and thorough shower. She felt dirty and disgusting. She then dried off and put on some clean clothes. This time she wore a sweat suit. She didn't want to wear revealing clothing anymore. And certainly never anything in silk or satin again!

She headed into her kitchen and took out a couple black trash bags. She then went into her bedroom and began filling both bags up with every silk article of clothing she owned, and every satin article of clothes she owned as well. She never wanted anything to remind her of her stage name again. She planned on never going back to the club. Screw their two week notice! She was not going to dance with Max looking on at her with pervy eyes and possibly raping her again. She also filled the bags with everything she owned that revealed cleavage or thighs.

Once both bags were filled, it left her with only about a third of her wardrobe, but she didn't care. She tied the bags up and took them out to the trunk of her car. She then headed out to drop them off at Goodwill. She never wanted to see any of it ever again.

When she was in her car, she called Chase and made some excuse about not feeling well and just wanting to relax and home and sleep the rest of the evening and night. She promised to call him in the morning, and was grateful when he didn't push about sleeping over.

After she got back from Goodwill, she slipped into her most modest pajamas, turned off all the lights, locked all the doors, and then threw herself into bed and cried herself to sleep. She didn't wake again until morning.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

The next morning, Aiden climbed out of bed. He wanted to make Hope breakfast in bed. He didn't even kiss her, for he didn't want her to stir. He headed downstairs. He wasn't the best cook in the world, but he figured he could handle some French toast, bacon, and fruit at least.

He headed out to the front door to retrieve the morning paper first, and was surprised to see a dozen red roses at the doorstep. Curious, he picked up the vase and red the card.

" _To Hope. Thank you for being my sounding board last night and for giving me some well appreciated companionship over dinner. The rehersal dinner reservation is made! Talk to you soon. –D.M.D"_

Aiden knew that "D.M.D meant Doctor Marshall Davis. He brought the flowers in and set them on the coffee table, and then headed into the kitchen to make Hope breakfast. He could hardly concentrate as he thought of the flowers. It seemed highly inappropriate. After all, Marshall was doing something special for them—not the other way around—so why the flowers? It made no sense to him.

A half hour later, he had their breakfast on a tray. He poured the orange juice and put the container back in the fridge, and then carried the tray up to the bedroom.

Hope opened her eyes when she heard him return to the bedroom, and she smiled big and sat up when she saw that he had brought her breakfast in bed. "Breakfast in bed? What did I do to deserve this?" Her smile was so beautiful it took his breath away.

"You exist," he said to her in answer to her question. He carefully got back into bed beside her and kissed her cheek, before setting the tray over her lap.

She kissed his lips in return. "Thank you, my love. This looks delicious! It reminds me of all the breakfasts in beds we use to have at The Salem Inn." She took a bite of the French toast with powdered sugar, butter, and maple syrup, and closed her eyes as she savored it. "Mm! So delicious."

"You got some red roses waiting for you downstairs—a dozen," Aiden said, not able to shake the thought of another man sending her roses.

"You went out and got me roses too? You're too sweet!" Hope said. She kissed his cheek.

Aiden shook his head. "They're not from me. They're from Dr. Davis. They were delivered to our doorstep this morning. He wanted to thank you for last night."

Hope could see the look of disproval on his face. "All we did was have dinner together, Aiden."

Aiden nodded. "I know that. I just think it's odd that he sent you roses when he's the one doing something nice for us; not the other way around."

Hope shrugged. "I wouldn't read too much into it. He's just nice like that."

"The guy makes me uncomfortable. I don't know why. It's just a feeling I get," Aiden grumbled as he took a bite of his own French toast.

Hope smirked at him. "You're reading too far into this, my love. He's just a very nice, generous, and probably lonely man just looking for some friends." She then raised an eyebrow. "Anyway, why do you represent him if you don't like him?" She took a drink of her orange juice.

"It's not that I don't like the guy. He's very nice. I don't know. I guess in my life I haven't had very good experience with people who are too nice. They always seem to want something in the end," Aiden said truthfully.

"Well, in this case I think Dr. Davis is just a very generous, kind, and lonely man, looking for some friendship," Hope said simply.

Aiden nodded. "I guess you're right. After all, he's paying for our rehersal dinner. How could I be angry at that?"

Hope grinned. "Exactly!"

They finished their breakfast, and then made love, and all of Aiden's worries about Dr. Davis instantly disappearing. At least for the time being anyway…

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

Carol and Casey held hands as they walked through the square. They had just had breakfast together and were now looking through the shops. As they passed by the jewelry store, Casey couldn't resist mentioning am engagement ring. "Would you like to go in and look at the engagement rings?" he asked her.

She looked at him with an amused look on her face. "Why would I want to do that?"

Casey shrugged. "Just for fun. Girls like to look at pretty things, don't they?"

Carol smirked. She wasn't fooled. "Casey, I'm not sure I'm ready to get married yet."

"It still wouldn't hurt to go ring shopping. I'd like to get a feel for what you'd like. Do you want a big ring or a small ring? Maybe something in-between? Do you want a diamond? Or would you prefer a different jewel?" Casey asked her.

"Casey, this really isn't necessary…" Carol tried. She loved Casey, but the thought of marrying again for the third time—the fourth time if you counted the marriage she'd had annulled—scared her.

Casey tugged at her hand and pulled her into the store.

She sighed. "I think you deserve diamonds. I kind of like the way Hope's is purple. What's your favorite color?" Casey asked her.

Carol sighed. "Red," she answered, humoring him.

"I think Rubies are prettier than garnets, but it's up to you!" he said to her. "We can get a diamond and ruby or a diamond and garnet ring for you."

"May I help you with anything? The jeweler asked? He was plump and balding with glasses, and looked like a very nice man.

"Yes, my girlfriend would like to see the engagement rings with diamonds and either garnets or rubies. Preferably rubies."

"You're in luck! We just got a beautiful selection of rubies in. Perfect for engagement rings. And we have a few wonderful garnet options as well." The jeweler took out two trays of rings from the display case. They were all quite stunning, even Carol had to admit. "So, do you have the date planned?" The jeweler asked with a kind smile.

Casey smiled at Carol and wrapped an arm around her. "We're technically not engaged yet, but we will be very soon. I'm just getting a feel for the ring she'd like so that I don't pick out anything she'd find ugly." He laughed, as did the jeweler.

Carol smiled weakly just to be polite.

"How about this one? I think it's really beautiful," Casey asked, holding up one to her that had two hearts side-by-side, one made of diamond and the other made of ruby.

"It's pretty," Carol said, though, her heart wasn't in it. She was feeling her pulse start to quicken.

"If you'd like a more traditional one, we have these," The jeweler offered, showing her an oval diamond surrounded by tiny garnets.

"Oo! Try this one on! It's really pretty," Casey said, grabbing a square-cut ruby in a white gold setting surrounded by a row of diamonds.

Carol didn't know what came over her then, she just snapped. She pushed his hand away, causing him to accidentally drop the ring. "I don't need to try the stupid ring on, okay? I don't want to get married any time soon! I told you that several times, but you just won't listen! No! I'm not going to marry you, so you can stop wasting your time trying to pick out engagement rings and trying to change my mind!"

Casey looked at her, his mouth literally dropped open in shock. For a moment, Carol feared he was going to cry. He looked like he could have.

Instead, Casey slowly bent down, picked the ring up, and then carefully handed it back to the jeweler. "Sorry about that. I can be a klutz sometimes. Also, I'm so sorry to have wasted your time." Is voice was almost to the point of cracking. He then rushed out of the jewelry shop, not even waiting for Carol.

"Casey, wait! I'm sorry! I didn't mean for it to come out like that!" Carol called after him. But he was already way out of earshot.

Carol blushed as she glanced at the jeweler. "I'm sorry. I've been married four times before. I have marriage issues," she said, not sure why she felt the need to explain this to a total stranger.

The poor jeweler just nodded, feeling awkward. "Good luck with…whatever," he said awkwardly.

She smiled gratefully at him. "Thank you. I'll need it!" She then ran out to try to catch Casey. She just hoped he hadn't left already.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

"I missed you," Chase said as he and Bridgette met at Pete's Pizza for an early lunch. He was surprised to see her in a track suit. She usually wore more feminine clothes, but she still looked beautiful to him. Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail with a black streak in it. He went to hug her, and she backed away.

Chase looked hurt. "Are you angry with me?"

Bridgette smiled weakly at him, and sat down. "No, not at all. I'm sorry. I'm just still feeling a little ill, and I don't want you to catch it."

"Maybe you should go to the doctor. I can go with you if you'd like," Chase said kindly as he took a seat across from her.

But she shook her head. "It's nothing. I already feel a little better today. It is probably just a twenty-four hour bug or something. I'm sure I'll feel completely better tomorrow."

"Maybe you shouldn't be eating pizza then if your stomach is off," he said wisely.

She smiled at him. "Lucky for me, they also sell subs here."

He did too. "So, I have a new idea for a routine. I was thinking I could dress up like Speed Racer just for a few nights since my stage name is a play on Speed Racer. I've even been working on a new move where I do a hand stand on the motorcycle seat. It's a bit tricky, but I've been practicing a lot. I've gone from falling every single try to falling every other try." He laughed. "I'm getting there."

Bridgette smiled weakly. "Practice makes perfect."

"Do you have any new moves for your show?" His voice got lower then. "Feel free to practice anything on me first. I love watching you dance. In fact, I'll be there watching you tonight!"

Bridgette put her menu down. "I won't be dancing."

"Oh, you feel too sick to?" he asked her.

She nodded. "But it's not just for tonight. I'm done. I don't want to dance there or anywhere else anymore."

Chase was shocked. He had thought she loved dancing. "All right. That's kind of sudden. May I ask why?"

"I just got tired of guys fawning over me all the time. It makes me feel cheap, and I don't like it," she said simply.

"I get it, but why the sudden change? It never seemed to bother you before. Did something happen to make you feel this way?" Chase asked with concern.

She shook her head. "No. I've actually been thinking about quitting for a long time. I just didn't want to mention anything to you until I was sure it wasn't what I wanted to do anymore."

"Well, then I'll quit too," Chase stated.

Bridgette was reminded of Max's words then, of Max telling her that Chase wouldn't get hired anywhere else because of no one wanting to hire a rapist. She also remembered how hard it was for him to find a job before he got the job at _Neverland_. "No, Chase, don't quit because of me. You love that job, and it was hard for you to find a job."

"I only work there because of you," he reminded her.

"But you grew to love it," Bridgette reminded him. "The pay is great and you get more tips than most of them. Except for Tony the Tiger, but even then, he doesn't get _that_ much more money than you do. I'm sure you'll surpass him in tips any time now."

"It will be lonely without you," Chase said with a pout.

Bridgette took his hands in hers from across the table. "We never perform on the same night anyway. And I'll come and see you perform whenever I can." She knew that Max rarely, if ever, showed up on the men's night. Half naked men made him uncomfortable. So, she wouldn't have to risk running into him then at least.

Chase reluctantly nodded his agreement. "All right, I'll stay. But what about you? What are you going to do for a living?"

"The café at The Square is hiring. I used to do waitressing. I'm going to see tomorrow if I can get a job there. I also love fashion, so maybe a clothing store at the mall would work too," Bridgette said confidently. She never had trouble finding a job. She herself was modest about her own looks, but employers noticed her good looks and never had any qualms about hiring her. Even the women employers knew that customers liked to see good looking people. It was just the way life was.

"Well, if you're sure," Chase said. He still sensed something was up, but he didn't want to push it. "I'm sure going to miss you though."

"Don't be silly. I told you I'd still go to see your shows. And of course you can come eat at The Square any time you want if I'm hired," she stated.

Chase nodded. "Okay. I'm sure they'll hire you. They'd be lucky to have you."

Bridgette smiled sincerely at him and kissed his hand. She wasn't ready to tell him the truth yet…of ever. In fact, she wanted to just forget the rape had ever happened. If that was even possible…

The waitress came then and they turned their attention to her to give her their orders.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

"I hope you like it. I did a lot of research, and as soon as I found this place I knew it was perfect for us. It's not a rooftop, but we can always do a rooftop reception. I think what I found is even more beautiful than any rooftop could be anyway," Aiden said to Hope as he drove her out into the country.

"I'm sure if you say it's beautiful, it is," she said, smiling at him and grasping his hand.

He smiled at her, and then put his eyes back on the road.

Twenty minutes later, they arrived, pulling up a long, winding driveway. There was a big beautiful building that read _The Tulip Garden_.

"This is a tulip nursery. They have rows and rows of beautiful tulips. A lot of people choose to do weddings here, so the tulips are centered around a big gazebo, and there is space in the middle for rows of chairs when they do their spring, summer, and fall weddings," Aiden explained.

Just then a young blonde woman in sneakers, jeans, a pink sweater, and a vest with the company's logo on it appeared. "Hello! I'm Sarah. You must be Hope and Aiden here to see the venue for your wedding?" she asked, extending a hand to Hope first.

Hope smiled at her, and shook her hand. "Hello, yes. That would be us!"

Aiden then shook Sarah's hand as well. "Hello. You must be the Sarah I talked with on the phone," he said politely.

She nodded. "That would be me!" She winked at Hope and smiled. "Right this way out back. Now that the weather is clearing up, we've finally gotten everything set up again. We have a wedding coming up on April second."

"Better than on April Fools! I'd hate for my marriage to be considered a joke. Though some might still consider it a joke in my case," Aiden teased.

Hope gently elbowed him and Sarah just smiled.

As Sarah led them back to the garden, Hope was amazed. The gazebo was big and beautiful. It was white with pink tulips threaded throughout the lattice. As Sarah had said, there were rows of chairs on each side, and between the rows of chairs leading up to the gazebo was a marble paved walkway. There were flower pots of pink roses beside each outer chair leading all the way up to the gazebo.

Behind the gazebo was a circular marble walkway with a beautiful three-tiered fountain that looked like it had been imported from Venice. The area surrounding the walkway around gazebo, chairs, and fountain was covered with tulips of all colors. There were several shades of pink, purple, red, orange, yellow, white, and even blue. It looked like a magical fairy garden.

"Wow. This is breathtaking!" Hope said in amazement.

"We just so happen to have an opening on Earth Day, so if you want it, it's all yours," Sarah said with a knowing smile.

"How much will this cost?" Hope asked.

"That depends on whether or not you would like to do the reception here as well, and how many guests you will be having. You're having a mid-week wedding instead of a weekend wedding, which will help lower the cost a bit. Please, come into my office so that we can work on a figure together," Sarah instructed.

So they did just that. They both wanted just a small wedding. They figured maybe fifty people at best. They also wanted to have a rooftop reception. They were thinking maybe on the roof of the Salem Inn for the reception—at nighttime, so that they could have the beautiful city lights below them as they danced.

The price ended up coming to six thousand dollars. It would have been more had they done the reception there. It even included The Tulip Garden's professional photographer. Of course, Hope and Aiden would have to hire a separate photographer for the reception, but they would worry about that later.

Hope was smiling as she and Aiden left The Tulip Garden and headed to lunch. Sarah had informed them that they could switch out the pink tulips on the lattice and in the flower pots by the chairs with purple and navy tulips so that it would fit with their wedding colors.

"This is going to be so romantic," Hope said dreamily as they got into the car.

"Nothing but the best for my baby," Aiden said to her.

She smiled and leaned across the seat to kiss him. "I love you," she murmured.

"And I love you, my love," he assured her.

Hope sat back in her seat, grinning widely as she then mentally made a list of everyone she was inviting to the wedding. She would get the invitations sent out tomorrow.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

Carol found Casey sitting on a bench in the park. She sat down next to him, and rested her head on his shoulder, grateful that he didn't try to pull away. "I'm sorry, Casey. It's not that I don't love you. I do! Very much so! It's just that, I've been married three times—four if you count the one I had annulled. I've screwed up so many times. I just don't want to screw it up with you."

He looked at her. "You could have just told me that instead of jumping down my throat in front of the jeweler. Do you know how embarrassing that was for me?"

Carol instantly felt bad. "I'm sorry. In all fairness, I tried to tell you I didn't want to get married. You just didn't want to hear it."

Casey looked away. "Yeah, well, don't worry. I hear you now. Loud and clear."

Carol gently pushed his chin toward her so that he was forced to look into her eyes. "Please don't be angry with me. I don't want to lose you. I'm afraid you're going to go off and find someone who _is_ willing to marry you now." She got teary-eyed at the thought.

His expression softened, and he gently wiped her tears away with his thumbs. "I'm not angry. I'm not some jerk who goes off on you and breaks up with you just because you're not ready to get married. I'm willing to wait for you. I love you that much. And if you never want to get married, well, living as we are, just happily dating, works just fine for me. It's a hell of a lot better than not having you at all. I don't want any other woman but you. If I have to compromise by not marrying you, then so be it. I'm disappointed, yes. But I could never be angry with you for something you can't help. If you're not ready, you're not ready. I have zero interest with being with anyone but you. I'd never be with another girl now that I've met you. Not even a one-night stand! I only want you. And I'm sorry I ran off the way I did. I was just really embarrassed."

"I shouldn't have snapped at you like that. I guess I just felt pressured," she replied. "I should have handled it better.

"And I shouldn't have pressured you," he admitted.

Carol smiled, and gently squeezed his hand. "How about this? I'll consider getting married. But don't expect me to be ready any time soon! I'm just saying I might be open to marrying you one day. It's not a total no."

Casey grinned at her. "I can live with maybe one day."

She kissed his hand. "And for the record, I think rubies and diamonds are an amazing combination, but I'd honestly be happy with whatever you give me. My only request is that it isn't anything I'd be embarrassed to show off. I know what you can afford." She grinned. "There is still a little snob in me that I never quite grew out of. Are you sure you can marry that one day?"

Casey stood up and held his hand out to her. "I'd be honored. And don't worry. If the day comes, I will buy you a ring fit for a queen."

Carol stood up. "I'm not saying there ever will be an engagement, but if there is, I prefer a gold setting. Yellow gold. Oh and it doesn't have to be a _huge_ ring." She raised an eyebrow. "I just don't want something you have to look under a microscope to see."

Casey laughed. "I assure you, you won't even need a magnifying glass to see it!"

Carol laughed. "Deal! Now let's go get something to eat." She took his hand and started dragging him back toward The Square.

"Eat? We just had lunch about an hour ago!" he reminded her.

"We had a late breakfast. It's lunchtime now. I don't like to skip meals."

Casey laughed. "Whatever my future fiancé wants, she gets."

"I didn't say I ever would be. I just said maybe," Carol reminded him.

Casey smiled. "I know, I know." But he knew he wouldn't rest until the day (hopefully sooner than she said) she finally gave in and became his bride.


	82. S4E7

_**This Love…**_

 _ **Season 4 Episode 7: Trouble Is**_

It was Easter Sunday, and everyone had gone to the St. Luke's church service early in the morning. The twins were dressed in a light blue suit in Haiden's case, and a pretty little pink lace dress with a silk white ribbon around her waist in Haiden's case. Haiden was wearing little light blue socks and baby lace up white dress shoes. Madeleine was wearing lace white stockings and baby white patent leather buckle shoes. She also wore a pink bow headband. Haiden had a tiny sky blue bow tie that matched his suit. They both looked adorable.

Ciara had come home for Easter, and had given her blessing for Chase to join them. She had long since healed over the rape, and she could see that Chase was a different person now. She figured that, if her aunt Kayla could forgive Jack for raping her, then she could forgive Chase for raping _her_.

Bridgette even joined them. She had on a pretty yellow dress that went below her knees and had three-quarter-inch sleeves. The neckline was high and secured around the back of her neck. She had her hair up in a bun with a scrunchie made of faux daffodils around the bun. She wore white stockings and yellow patent leather flats. Her hair had a tendril left out on each side of her face; the right tendril dyed a bright yellow.

"Well, you're dressed more modestly than usual. Will you be joining a nunnery?" Chase had teased her upon first seeing her in the outfit.

She had instantly narrowed her eyes at him. "What's that supposed to mean? Do you think I owe it to you to show some skin? Is that the only way you'll like me? Is that _why_ you like me? Because I usually dress like a slut?" she snapped.

Chase was shocked. He held his hands up to her. "Whoa! I was only teasing you, Bridge! Where did _that_ come from?"

She continued to narrow her eyes at him. "Well I don't like that kind of teasing! My body is not for anybody but me. You got it?"

Chase felt wounded. He didn't know why she was overreacting, but he didn't want to make her any angrier—especially not on Easter. "I'm sorry. It was just a bad joke. You look beautiful no matter what you wear. I think the dress looks beautiful on you, and I love your hair."

Bridgette seemed to calm down a bit. "Thank you."

"And I love you no matter how you dress. But, for the record, you never dressed like a slut," he then added.

Bridgette took his hand in hers. "Thank you." She didn't apologize for having snapped at him, but Chase didn't mind. All he cared about was that she apparently seemed to have forgiven him for his tasteless comment.

After church, they all headed over to Jennifer's house for a big Easter Brunch. It was a big group with Chad, Abigail, Thomas, JJ, Jennifer, Lucas, Mandy, Aiden, Hope, Shawn, Ciara, Chase, Bridgette, Carol, Casey, and Jake. Claire was celebrating Easter with Belle in New York.

They had moved the couch and set up a long dining table in the living room, where they all enjoyed a nice brunch together.

"Thomas was now five, but he still had a blast talking to the twins and playing toys with them even though they were only seven months old and couldn't talk themselves quite yet. Even so, they both giggled and laughed as he made their stuffed bunny toys talk for them.

"Lucas, Sweetie, don't eat that second piece of ham. You already had a huge piece. Remember, we're eating Easter dinner with my father tonight," Mandy gently scolded Lucas.

Lucas grinned at her and took it anyway. "Don't worry. That's not until five. It's only eleven now. I'll be plenty hungry tonight." He then proceeded to fill his plate with seconds of mashed potatoes and corn as well.

Mandy didn't look pleased, but she said nothing.

No one else seemed to notice, for they were listening to Hope telling everyone with excitement about The Tulip Garden.

"So, Bridgette, remind me what you do for a living again? I'm not sure if anyone ever told me," Jennifer asked Bridgette once Hope had finished telling them about The Tulip Garden.

Bridgette blushed. "I used to work at Neverland. I don't do that anymore. In fact, I just got word today that I got the job as a waitress at The Town Square Café. I start tomorrow actually.

"What is Neverland?" Jennifer asked in curiosity. "I'm not sure I've heard of it before."

Chase smiled. "She danced. She's really good. All the men loved her." He didn't mean to demean her. He was just proud of her.

Jennifer blushed. "You mean you were a stripper?"

Chase answered for Bridgette. "Yes and a mighty good one at that! But it isn't a full nude strip club." He raised his eyebrows up and down suggestively, and playfully elbowed Bridgette with a grin. "She saves all the nudeness for me, right Babe?"

Bridgette was now fifty shades of red. She narrowed her eyes at him. "I am nobody's 'babe,' and what we do in our private time is our business and nobody else's!"

Chase instantly turned red. "I'm sorry." It was the second time he had put his foot in his mouth that day. "I know. It was stupid of me to joke like that."

Bridgette stood up. "You're darn right it was stupid! I am not your property, Chase! I'm not here just for eye candy for you, or for you to do whatever you want with!" She was shaking now.

Chase stood up as well. "Bridgette, I'm sorry, all right? I didn't even mean it that way! I'll never run my mouth off like that again. I promise!"

"You know what? Just forget it. I'm out of here." Bridgette turned to Jennifer. "I'm sorry to leave so early, but I just can't be here with him right now. Thank you so much for your kind hospitality. Brunch was wonderful. You're a really good cook."

Jennifer smiled sympathetically at her. "Thank you, Honey. You know what? Don't even fret over it, okay? I don't think any less of you. Heck, I wish I still had the body to dance at Neverland!"

"Thanks, but you don't want it; trust me. Thank you for having me." With that, Bridgette left the living room, and a moment later, the house.

"Bridgette, wait!" Chase called out, running after her.

"I think we should be heading out as well," Mandy said to Lucas just then.

"Now? But we haven't even had dessert yet!" Lucas said in surprise.

Mandy rolled her eyes. "After all that food you just crammed into your mouth you still want dessert? No. I told you, father is having us for dinner. He'll be hurt if you're not hungry enough to eat it."

"Mandy, dinner is six hours away. I _told_ you, I'll be hungry," Lucas assured her.

Mandy looked like she had just sniffed something foul. "Actually, I'm not really feeling well. I think I want to go home and lie down before dinner tonight. Can you please take me home?"

Lucas nodded. "Why didn't you say so? That's an entirely different story." He turned to Jennifer. "Sorry, Sis. I'll call you later, all right?"

Jennifer nodded. "Here. At least let me give you some dessert to go." She stood up.

"Thanks!" Lucas said smiling.

Jenifer came back a moment later with a wrapped paper plate of donuts.

"Gran's?" Lucas asked hopefully.

Jennifer grinned. "You know it!"

"Thank you!" Lucas kissed her cheek as he took the plate from her. "I love you, Sis. Happy Easter!" He half hugged her.

"Happy Easter. I love you too." She half hugged him back. She then turned to Mandy. "It was nice meeting you, Mandy. I hope you feel better."

Mandy smiled saccharinely sweet at her. "Thank you. I'm sure I will."

"Hopefully next time you can bring your daughter," Jennifer said. Mandy's daughter was celebrating Easter with her father.

"Yes, definitely," Mandy said with the same smile.

As soon as Mandy and Lucas were out the door, Mandy's smile turned to a scowl. "What the hell is wrong with you, reprimanding me like that?"

Lucas was stunned. "Reprimanding you?"

Mandy nodded. "I told you not to eat anymore and you totally ignored me. You made me sound foolish for wanting you to save your appetite for my father's dinner!" She took the plate of donuts from him and threw it in the nearby bushes.

"Mandy, what the hell?" Lucas went over and retrieved them.

"See? There you go again; reprimanding me when I'm just trying to make sure you don't get too full." She crossed her arms and tapped her foot.

"Stop spazzing out, all right? Fine! I'll save them for after dinner if you're so worried. Just don't litter in my sister's yard! My gosh!" Lucas couldn't believe her.

Suddenly, she reached out and slapped him across the face.

He was so startled he dropped the donuts.

She instantly put a hand to her mouth. "I am _so_ sorry!" She instantly started to get teary-eyed. "Please don't be angry! I'm just so stressed about this dinner. I love my dad, but he's really weird about my friends. Especially boyfriends. You should have seen the way he was with my ex-husband. He thinks a man is not a man if he doesn't have a hearty appetite. I just really want him to like you. I know I'm being way overly cautious, but I just don't want to screw this up. I really, really like you. I know we just met, but you're the best thing that's happened to me in a very long time, and I just want everything to be perfect for tonight. I snapped. There's no excuse. I'm sorry." She was sobbing now.

Lucas gently put a hand over her back to comfort her. "It's all right. I'm sorry. You're right. I should have listened to you and not tried to make you feel stupid," he said gently.

She kissed his cheek that she had slapped. "It will never happen again, I promise."

He smiled. "It's all forgotten about."

"Daddy will have dessert for us, so you don't need these." She then stomped on the donuts. "Just so there's no temptation," she said with a smile and a wink. She then picked up the now smashed plate of donuts. "I'll throw this out for you when I get back to my place."

Lucas nodded. "All right." He then held his car door open for her. He still didn't know why he couldn't have just saved the donuts for the next day, but he didn't want to upset her, so he just let it go.

And as they headed home and Mandy sung along off key to the radio looking so cute, Lucas forgot all about their argument, and sang along badly with her.

By the end of the car ride, they were both laughing, the argument completely forgotten about.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

"Well this is turning out to be a lovely Easter brunch, isn't it?" Carol joked.

Jake barked in response, and they all laughed.

"I didn't mean to cause any trouble with Chase and Bridgette. I honestly didn't know," Jennifer said, feeling bad.

"Don't worry about it. My son has a way of putting his foot in his mouth sometimes," Aiden assured her.

"And as for Lucas, I'm not sure I like this Mandy person for him. Where did he meet her anyway? He never tells me anything," Jennifer added.

Aiden blushed. "A client of mine helped me set them up. His daughter was single and Lucas's age. We figured, why not?"

Jennifer blushed too. "Well, now I'm the one putting my foot in my mouth. I'm sure she's a nice woman. She does seem to make him really happy. She just seems uptight at times. And seeing as he's my brother, I'm protective of him."

Aiden nodded. "That's understandable."

Chase, who had taken Bridgette back home, suddenly came back in just then. Bridgette had wanted to be alone. He had hated to leave her, but she was so angry she was in tears. She had insisted that he leave her alone, so he had. He had felt badly about the way he had just left Jennifer's, so he had headed back there after having driven her the short way back to her apartment. "Hi. I'm sorry for the interruption. I say stupid things sometimes. I guess I'm just feeling so lucky about having a girlfriend like her that I like to brag about her. I didn't stop to think about the inappropriateness of my words."

"It's okay, Honey. You know what? Why don't I go get donuts for everyone? Everyone loves dessert, right?" Jennifer asked.

"Yes, please!" Thomas requested, and they all laughed.

"Please, let me help you clean the table at least," Chase said, starting to take everyone's plate. He avoided Ciara's gaze when he grabbed her plate. He bet she was enjoying this.

Ciara surprised him. "I'll help too," she said, getting up and helping to gather the plates.

"You guys are so sweet! Thank you," Jennifer replied.

As Chase and Ciara brought the dishes into the kitchen, Ciara couldn't help but say something to Chase. "Women don't like to be demeaned, even by the person they are dating. Our bodies aren't just for your enjoyment. Sex is something that should be private. Otherwise it just becomes about showing off; not love. It should be something between you two and you two only. It's private and no one else's business what you do in the bedroom."

Chase nodded. "I know. I really screwed up. Still, it's not like her to get so offended so easily. I mean, she had a job where showing off her body. It was what she got paid for."

Ciara nodded. "But when she isn't working, she shouldn't have to worry about men fawning all over her. I can see how that would get old, and why she quit her job. Women like to be respected. Just try to remember that the next time you want to go off in a room full of family and friends about how smoking hot her body is."

"Point taken," Chase said miserably.

The rest of Easter brunch went fine, and soon, everyone was leaving.

"I just want to thank you for making the bridesmaids' dresses pretty. I was afraid they were going to be ugly," Jennifer said to Hope as Hope and family prepared to leave.

"My mom has great taste. You never had to worry," Ciara assured her.

"She does, doesn't she?" Jennifer agreed.

Hope smiled. "Thank you. I would never pick out something you didn't want to wear."

"So, Aiden, tell me about this client of yours. Mandy's father. Is he a decent guy?" Jennifer asked, curious about her brother's girlfriend's family.

Aiden nodded. "He's paying for the rehersal dinner just to thank me for representing him. He's paying me to represent him, so I don't know why he feels the need to do this for us too, but we'll take it. With the new house we're having built, we can use any break we can get."

"That does seem kind of odd," Jennifer noted.

Hope rolled her eyes. "He's just a very nice man. He's lonely, and he told me at dinner that he loves spending his money on other people more than he does on himself. And trust me; he has a _lot_ of money. He eats at Carlivati's several times a week!"

Jennifer whistled. "Wow. I couldn't even get in there _once_ yet. They've been so busy. You've been there?" She was impressed.

Hope nodded. "He took me and Aiden there the first time, and then me the second time."

"Why did you go just the two of you?" Jennifer asked, confused.

"He wanted to talk to me about the surprise for Aiden, aka the rehersal dinner," Hope replied.

"Couldn't he have just talked to you over the phone about it?" Jennifer was a little suspicious.

"I know, right? Thank you!" Aiden said to her.

"I thought so too, but after spending time with him, I can see he is just a very lonely man. There's nothing weird about him. You don't have to worry," Hope assured her.

"Just be careful, all right? You never can truly know people," Jennifer said ominously. She glanced at Aiden for the briefest of seconds.

Aiden was a little hurt, though he could understand it. He felt he was never going to be able to live it down, what had gone on with him and Hope. Not that it was an excuse, but everyone seemed to have forgotten that his son's life had been in the balance if he didn't kill Hope, and that even then, he couldn't go through with it. Of course, he never should have gotten himself or her into that position in the first place, he knew.

Jennifer spoke quietly. "I'm sorry. That was uncalled for. I know you're not like that anymore."

"It's all right. It's my own fault that people are always going to remember what I almost did," Aiden said somberly.

"It's in the past, and that's where it's going to stay." Hope said, latching onto his arm. She turned her attention back to Jennifer. "Jen, don't forget the final dress fitting is on Tuesday at one."

Jen nodded. "I wouldn't miss it!" She grinned. "And little Haiden and Madeleine are going to look _so_ stinking cute in their little suit and dress!"

Hope squealed. "I know! I just want to eat them up they are so cute." She turned serious then. "And don't get Aiden going again on Marshall Davis. He is just a harmless and lonely man. I assure you."

"If you say so." Jennifer still wasn't quite convinced.

"I do!" Hope said with a nod.

"Save the I dos for me," Aiden joked.

Hope grinned, and kissed him.

They said their goodbyes, and then they were soon back in the car and headed Home.

The twins were sleeping in their car seats and Hope was chatting with Ciara, who had ridden with them. Aiden was sitting quietly to himself as he drove, thinking of what Jennifer had said. He was glad he wasn't the only one who sensed something off about Dr. Marshall Davis. He was determined now more than ever to keep an extra close watch on the good doctor…

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

"I'm so glad that Aiden helped me set you two up. You are absolutely perfect for my daughter!" Dr. Marshall said to Lucas as they sat eating Easter dinner at his home. The maid had cooked everything, and the servants had served them.

Lucas smiled. "Your daughter is quickly becoming the best thing that has ever happened to me besides my children of course." He was vastly impressed by Dr. Marshall's massive home. Mandy didn't live with Dr. Marshall. She had a wonderful house of her own. But she assured Lucas that she was over at her father's house most of the time anyway. "The food is delicious, by the way," Lucas added.

"Thank you. Yes, I have the best cook in town. I was very lucky to get him," Dr. Marshall replied. "Tell me about this Countess Wilhelmina you work at."

Lucas then told him all about the business, and Dr. Davis was very interested in hearing it all.

"Not that you need it, but if you want any makeup, you can have whatever you want, free of charge of course," Lucas said to Mandy.

Mandy kissed him, unafraid to show public displays of affection in front of her father. "You're wonderful, Sweetheart. Thank you." She turned to her father. "Lucas has an idea for a new line of cosmetics he and his mother want to bring into their company, but they could use some help with the funding. The ingredients are the best quality you can get, and if they can create this new line, it will really help their company."

"Well by all means, just tell me how much you need, and I will be more than happy to sign the check out!" Marshall said to Lucas.

Lucas blushed. "That is very kind and generous of you, Sir, but I assure you, I didn't come here looking for a handout. I love your daughter, and I would never ever want to take advantage of her, you, or anyone else in her family."

"Isn't he the sweetest, Daddy?" Mandy asked, clinging to his arm. "This really is all my idea. I didn't even mention it to him. In fact, I don't think he even realizes how rich we are." She grinned.

Marshall grinned as well. "You may call me Marshall. I know you're not looking for a handout, Lucas, but you're making my daughter very happy. She is the happiest I've seen her in a very long time, actually. So for that, I am going to give you the money you need."

"I'd love her even without the money," Lucas assured him.

Marshall smiled. "I know you would. Which is exactly why I'm giving you the money." He winked at him.

"Well thank you. Thank you so much!" Lucas said, extending his hand to him. "I can give you some of the proceeds until you're paid back with interest at least."

Marshall shook his head. "You do no such thing! Anything you sell will be of your own accord and therefore your own money, which you will well deserve. Besides, not to sound like a rich snob, but I already have more than enough money to be set for the rest of my life, and for my daughter and grandchild to be set for life as well. I don't need any more."

"Well, I'm going to name the new line Queen Mandy," Lucas informed them.

Mandy squealed with delight and clapped her hands. "I told you he's the best, Daddy!"

Marshall grinned. "I can see that he is. I think this calls for some Champaign to celebrate! I'll be right back." He got up and left the dining room then.

Mandy then turned to Lucas. "Did you really mean it when you told him that you love me?"

Lucas nodded. "I know we've only known each other for a very short while, but I've already fallen for you."

Mandy had tears of joy in her eyes. "I love you too."

Lucas had tears of joy in his own eyes, and they kissed. _Finally_ , he thought, _finally I have a woman that's mine and only mine._

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

Chase knocked on Bridgette's door that night. He couldn't leave things the way they were. He didn't want her to be angry with him.

"What do you want?" she asked when she opened the door. She was in her flannel pajamas, and her eyes were red and damp as if she'd been crying.

"I just wanted to apologize for acting like such a disgusting pervert today. I didn't mean to be demeaning. I know what we have is private. I just love you so much that I wanted to brag about you. I don't love you for your body. That is just an added bonus. I love you for your heart. I love your smile, and I love the way that you never judge me even though what I did to Ciara was horrible. You gave me a second chance when no one else other than my father would, and for that, I will be eternally grateful to you, Bridge."

Bridgette sighed. "Come in." She stepped back and allowed him in.

"Thank you," he said as he walked past her.

She shut and locked the door behind them. "I'm sorry I embarrassed you in front of your family," she said quietly.

"No, I'm sorry _I_ embarrassed _you_ in front of them," he said softly. "I'm human. I act like a stupid teenager sometimes."

She smiled a barely noticeable smile. "That's because you were one not that long ago."

He nodded, and smiled too. "That is true."

"I just don't want you mentioning my body anymore, okay? Not even when it's just the two of us." She rubbed her arms as if she were cold.

Chase nodded. "All right, but you don't need to feel self-conscious about it. You're perfect," he said to her. He went to hug her to warm her up, and she backed off.

"What's wrong? I said I was sorry," he said gently.

"Yeah, well sorry doesn't cover everything. Some things you can't just apologize and it makes everything okay again," she said simply.

Chase was confused. "Again, I'm sorry! I screwed up, all right? What I said was incredibly dumb, but I don't think it warrants you not forgiving me. What is wrong with you, Bridge? Something's up. I can tell. Talk to me," he said softly.

Bridgette backed up a bit, and stiffened. "Nothing's wrong. I just don't want you feeling like you can touch me whenever you please."

Chase's face was filled with confusion. "I was just trying to hug you, Bridgette. I'm your boyfriend. Boyfriends hug their girlfriends."

"Yeah, well, it's not okay to do with me!" Bridgette warned.

Chase smirked. "Since when?"

"I just don't want you to touch me, all right?! I don't want anyone to touch me ever again!" she yelled, backing up some more yet.

"Bridgette what is the matter with you?" Despite what she had said, Chase went to hug her close to comfort her.

She screamed and pushed him away. "Get away from me! Don't touch me!"

"Bridgette, what is wrong with you? I am your boyfriend! You have got to tell me what is wrong!" He snapped. He could not believe his eyes or his ears. Something was clearly going on with her. It couldn't have been solely what had happened at Easter brunch.

"I was raped! All right?" She finally yelled.

Chase felt as if his heart had just stopped. "By whom?" he asked, trying to stay calm.

"By Max!" She was sobbing now.

"How? When?" he asked.

"I've been hanging out with him a lot lately. Whenever I said I was with Jessica, I was actually with him. He was my friend, and I thought you were just being a jealous boyfriend by not wanting me to hang out alone with him," Bridgette began.

"So you lied to me all this time?" Chase couldn't help but be hurt over the fact that she saw him as just a jealous boyfriend instead of considering that maybe he was right; that Max had other things on his mind when it came to her. Though he never would have thought Max was a rapist. "When did it happen?" he asked again.

That night I said I was sick and didn't want you coming over. He had called me over to check on some supposed discrepancies with the books. No one else was at the club. He kissed me. I tried to fight him of, but he was too strong. He raped me on the couch in his office."

Chase was so angry he like felt he was going to explode. "I knew it! I knew he wasn't to be trusted! I knew that is why he wanted to hang out with you! Didn't you find it odd that he wanted to be alone with you?"

Bridgette scrunched her eyebrows at him. "No! I thought he wanted me to check on the books! I told you."

"You should have told me you were hanging out with him instead of going behind my back all this time. Maybe then you wouldn't have been raped. Maybe then you wouldn't have given him—" He stopped, realizing that what he was about to say would come out way too wrong if he said it.

But it was too late. She knew what he had been going to say. She narrowed her eyes at him. "Maybe then I wouldn't have given him what, Chase? That I wouldn't have given him the wrong idea?" She laughed bitterly.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean it that way," he said quietly, his head bowed.

"Well, then, how _did_ you mean it, Chase? I think you meant it exactly the way I said! Leave it to a rapist to defend another rapist. You're no better than him," Bridgette said nastily.

Chase was crushed. He looked up at her. "I didn't mean it that way at all! That's why I stopped talking," he informed her, trying not to cry.

"Too late." She stormed over to her door, unlocked it, and yanked it open. "Get out. And don't come back," she said.

"Bridgette…" He tried. But as he looked into her eyes, he didn't see Bridgette anymore. All he saw was a woman overcome with hatred and rage. He then left, feeling as if he had just lost his best friend. In a way, he had.


	83. S4E8

_**This Love…**_

 _ **Season 4 Episode 8: I'll Be There for You**_

Chase felt as if he were going to go crazy. He wanted to _kill_ Max! He partly felt hypocritical for feeling that way. After all, could a rapist really judge a rapist? But then he figured out the answer. Yes, they could. Not that there was any excuse for Rape, but he was just a kid back then and had just lost his father (or so he had thought), and had no real influence left to talk to or look up to. He had felt that everyone had abandoned him. And he had served his time and gotten help for it. Not to mention he was incredibly remorseful. Max, on the other hand, was a grown man with, as far as Chase knew, no real problems of his own. He had a ton of friends, talked about his parents and siblings fondly, and not to mention was the owner/co-manager of a successful club. True, he could have some deep seeded hurt going on that Chase didn't know about, but Chase highly doubted it.

He called his dad, and then he had called Carol. He wanted his family with him. They were the only two people he felt never judged him. He used to think Bridgette never judged him either, but now he knew that wasn't true after her harsh words to him. They still rang over and over again in his head.

" _Leave it to a rapist to defend another rapist. You're no better than him."_

Tears filled his eyes. But he _was_ better than Max! He was! He regretted to his core what he had done to Ciara, and if he could take it all back, he would. Not a day went by even now after Ciara had forgiven him that he didn't beat himself up over what he had done.

He arrived at The Brady Pub and parked. He then headed into the restaurant and found Aiden already waiting for him at a private corner booth.

Grateful, Chase rushed over and sat across from him against the wall. "I'm sorry to take you away from Hope and the twins on Easter, but I really need you, Dad."

"Don't worry about it. The twins are down for their nap and Hope is enjoying some quiet alone time with a good book." Aiden grinned. "Even with me helping out, the twins don't give her much time to read." Then he noticed the tears in Chase's eyes, and the smile wiped off his face. "What's wrong?"

Trying his best not to break down into sobs, Chase told Aiden about Bridgette's rape, about their argument, and finally about how angry she had been and the hurtful words she had said to him.

Aiden winced. "That poor girl! No wonder she was so touchy at dinner! She had every reason to be. Did she have the guy arrested?"

Chase shrugged. "I don't know. I didn't get time to stick around and ask her." He sniffled, and looked Aiden in the eyes. "She was so angry with me, Dad! I think she really hates me now. She thinks I'm no better than Max. Maybe she's right."

Aiden's heart broke at the sight of his son's spirit so visibly crushed. "Chase, look me in the eyes," he ordered.

Chase did as told.

"Max and you are two entirely different people. You may have both done the same thing, but it does not make you anything like him. You were going through a horrible time in your life. You were young, and lost… You did your time, and there is nothing you feel sorrier about in your life. Max on the other hand is just a disgusting pig who thinks he can have any girl he wants whenever he wants. He probably even thinks that Bridgette wanted it since she danced 'just for him' in his delusional mind. He probably had a crush on her and made his mind believe what he wanted it to believe. Did Bridgette deserve it? No! Did she ask for it? No! But men like Max think they are owed everything, and unfortunately for Bridgette, I'm sure he felt that since she worked for him, he owned her," Aiden explained. "And I assure you, Bridgette doesn't hate you, nor does she mean the things she said to you. She is understandably hurting right now. All you can do is give her the space she needs and be there for her when she is finally ready to let you back into her life again."

Chase looked at him with eyes still red from crying. "But what if she decides she doesn't want to be with a rapist and dumps me for good, Dad? Then what? I don't think I can bare life without her."

Before Aiden could answer, Carol appeared. "So sorry I'm late! I forgot I promised Casey I'd walk Jake. I forgot to, and he ended up pooping and peeing all over the floor. The damn dog."

"Well maybe if you had remembered to walk him…" Aiden trailed off. As much as Carol had grown up, there were still times when he felt like he was the older one. In some ways, emotionally he was. But that wasn't what mattered right now.

" _Sorry_! I was talking to Gloria on the phone, and you know how we get when we get to chatting." She then remembered that Chase had called her saying he needed her. She turned to him. "What's up, buddy?"

Chase then told her everything he had just told Aiden.

When he finished, Carol sighed. "Wow." She hadn't been expecting _that_. "Are you sure she's not just pranking you?"

Chase and Aiden both shot her a look.

She held out her hands. "I was only joking! Relax! Sometimes you have to take even serious things and joke about them. Otherwise, they'll eat you alive."

Chase didn't find anything funny about the situation, but he didn't get angry. He and Aiden both knew that that was just Carol's personality. Joking around was her way, and always had been her way of dealing with things she felt uncomfortable talking about. "She was too angry with me for it to be a joke. Besides, she wouldn't joke about something like that."

Carol nodded. "I know. Trust me, she's angry with what happened to her, and she's angry with this Max guy for raping her. She's not angry with you. What you need to do is put your foot down and tell her that you are not Max, and that you will not give her space because you are her boyfriend and you are here for her no matter what!"

"I think she needs some space first. The last thing she needs is for a man to be too pushy with her," Aiden corrected her.

Carol looked at him. "If he backs off now, she'll think he doesn't care, and she will always secretly blame him for not being there for her when she needed him the most."

"But she told him to get out! She doesn't want him near her right now," Aiden insisted.

Carol shook her head. "She doesn't literally mean that. She wants him to fight for her, and to show her that he isn't going to leave her. That she is deserving of real love and that she isn't just some guy's sex toy, or doll, whatever you wanna call it."

"What I want to do is find out where Ma x is and go and beat the shit out of him!" Chase said, suddenly angry.

"Don't you dare!" Aiden chastised. "The last thing you need is to get yourself in trouble with the law again. This is one thing that needs to be up to the police and before them even, up to Bridgette. She needs to be the one to press charges."

Chase had a lot to think of.

"I'll go get us some drinks. What does everyone want?" Carol asked.

Aiden just wanted lemonade, and Chase wasn't in the mood. He just wanted to go for a drive.

"Don't do anything stupid," Aiden warned him as they both stood up.

"I won't. I promise. Thanks for the good advice." Chase hugged him. "I love you."

"I love you to, Son. More than you could ever know," Aiden said, hugging him tightly.

Carol hugged him too. "Do whatever you feel is right concerning Bridgette. But don't be a dumbass. Stay away from Max. I love you, and I don't want to see you getting into any trouble—especially not for a scumbag like him."

"I won't," Chase assured her. "I love you too." He then left.

"Don't worry, Gator-Aide. He'll be okay. I'll go get those drinks," Carol said.

Aiden sat back down and sighed. He hoped she was right. He just wanted happiness for his son, but for some reason, trouble always seemed to follow him.

Carol came back two minutes later, and sat down in front of him with regular lemonade for him and pink lemonade for her.

"Thanks!" Aiden said. He then took a sip. As soon as he took the sip, he spit it out. "Yuck! This is disgusting!" He wiped his mouth.

Carol burst out laughing. "Instead of adding sugar, I had them add salt…lot and lots of salt."

"You're a brat!" Aiden muttered, annoyed that he had been caught in another one of his sister's jokes at his expense.

Carol rolled her eyes. "Lighten up! You never did have much of a sense of humor, even as a kid. I'll go buy you a new one, this time salt free."

Aiden did have a sense of humor, but his sister had harassed him so much as a kid that it still left scars. He didn't find her jokes as funny as other people's jokes even if she meant no malice.

Carol came back with a new lemonade, this one made the way it should be.

"Thank you," he replied.

"Anytime," she said with a smile.

They talked more about Chase and Bridgette then. They both hoped that Bridgette got the help she needed, that Max paid for what he had done, and that Chase would be able to get through to Bridgette. It was a sad situation. On one hand, they felt terrible for Bridgette. On the other hand, Chase didn't need this either even though it was what it was and Bridgette had every right to feel the way she felt. The rape certainly wasn't her fault.

As they were about to leave, Aiden gasped. "Carol, there's a spider in your hair! It just crawled up from your jacket collar!" He knew how terrified she was of spiders.

Carol looked over at her shoulder at him and smirked. "Nice try. You were never able to get me as a kid, and you won't be able to get me now either."

Aiden pouted. He'd get her one of these days, and when he did, she'd never see it coming.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

When Aiden arrived home, Hope was there to greet him.

She kissed him. "How's Chase? Is he all right? What's wrong?" She helped him take his jacket off, and then led him to the couch where she sat him down and gently massaged his shoulders from behind the couch.

Aiden sighed. "He himself is fine, but he's crushed over Bridgette.

"Oh no. What happened?" Hope had been worried a break up was gonna happen after what had progressed earlier at brunch. She actually felt bad for Chase. She had seen how happy Bridgette made him, and she knew how much Chase loved her.

Aiden then told her everything Chase had told him.

"That poor thing. I know how scary that must have been for her. Thank God he didn't do anything more. I mean yes, being raped I'd imagine is horrifying as it is. But thank God he didn't try to kill her to keep her quiet. I see too many sad stories like that in my line of work. I hope she's pressed charges! Did she?" Hope asked.

Aiden shrugged. "I don't know. Chase didn't get far enough to ask her."

"Maybe tomorrow I'll go see her. She shouldn't feel she has to hide this. Too many men get away with raping women by intimidating them into keeping their mouths shut. It has to stop," Hope said, angry for Bridgette.

Aiden nodded. "I agree! I'd be happy to set him up with the crappiest lawyer in town." He grinned. "So, what did I miss while you were gone? Are the twins still sleeping okay?"

Hope nodded. "It's funny you should ask me what happened while you were gone."

"Why's that?" Aiden asked.

Hope smiled. "Actually, it happened about a month ago."

Aiden turned to face her. "What happened about a month ago?"

Hope squealed. "I'm pregnant again!" She pulled out an official hospital document to prove it.

"Wow! Are you sure it's not just a fluke?" He was surprised she had gotten pregnant with the twins as it was, but to get pregnant again? What were the chances at her age?

Hope shook her head. "Kayla double checked herself and dropped off the results while you were gone. I was tested a few days ago on my lunch break."

Aiden stood up and walked over to her. "We're really going to have our hands full, but you know I'm going to love him or her with everything I have."

"Actually, it may be both a him and a her. And another him or her. I'm having triplets this time. Look!" Her eyes lit up and she pointed it out on the lab result. "Kay says it's quite common in pregnancies later in life for it to be multiples," she explained to him.

Aiden felt his face pale. "So we're going to have a total of five babies in the house? Oh my gosh I think I need to sit down for this."

Hope pouted. "What's the matter? Aren't you happy about it?" She moved to sit down on his lap on the couch, where he had just gone back to sit down on again.

"I am! It's just going to be a lot of adjusting to is all," Aiden replied. "I think we're going to need more help than just Lucas now."

Hope couldn't take it any longer. She burst out laughing. "Belated April Fool's! I had Kayla get the lab people to make a fake test result up for me. I'm certainly not going to be having any more babies, Mr. Jennings. Haiden and Maddie are all we need."

"Oh my gosh, thank The Lord!" Aiden said. "I love you so much, and I love Haiden and Maddie, but I'm getting too old for five children!"

Hope laughed. "Well so am I! I'm seven years older than you yet!"

They both laughed.

"I wouldn't have believed it, but the test threw me off. Plus, April Fool's Day was over a week ago," Aiden said. "I have to admit, that was a good one."

Hope grinned. "Why thank you! I specifically waited because I knew that you might guess it was a joke if I pulled this on April Fool's Day. I also figured that you wouldn't expect the prank on Easter. I knew with the official lab reports you'd believe it."

"I was starting to feel like I was on _Nightmare on Elm Street_. I was prepared to never sleep again!" Aiden joked.

Hope laughed. "I think adding three more babies to our family would kill me."

"And we certainly can't have that! If you died, I'd die. You know I wouldn't want to live without you, Baby." Aiden gently stroked her hair.

"And I'd never want to live without you," Hope said, her eyes lowering with love for him.

They kissed, and then without words, he carried her up to the bedroom to show her exactly how much he truly loved her.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

"What the hell do _you_ want?" Bridgette asked when she opened up her door to Chase later that night. "I told you to go away."

Chase shook his head. "I couldn't. I know I should give you space, but as your boyfriend, I just can't. I don't even care that you lied to me, Bridgette. It's irrelevant now. Max had no right to do what he did to you. You didn't ask for it. I know you think I am the same as him, but I'm not. I'm sure he's not going through what I was going through back then, and he is smarter than I was then. Plus, he's not remorseful for what he did and _I_ am for what _I_ did. I will never _ever_ rape you, and I will never ever rape anyone ever again. You deserve respect, and I am so sorry for any stupid and inappropriate joke I made about your body. Your body is your business and nobody else's business except for God's."

Bridgette blushed with embarrassment. "Come in! I don't want my whole floor knowing happened to me." She let him in.

"Sorry. I didn't think about your neighbors," he said, stepping in.

Bridgette shut and locked the door behind him. She then turned to him. "I'm sorry I compared you to him. I know you're nothing like him. I even know you weren't saying that I asked for it. I'm just still so angry! I didn't mean to take it out on you."

"Bridge, you need to press charges. Have you?" Chase asked softly.

Bridgette shook her head. "I can't," she said softly.

"Why not?" Chase felt his anger at Max rising up again. "Did he threaten you?"

Bridgette shrugged. "Not me personally, but he threatened to fire you, and have women he knows claim that you raped them. True he'd have no proof, but he said it would be enough to put reasonable doubt in employers' minds, and that you'd never find a job again."

Chase was ready to kill Max. "Well I am never working at Neverland again! I won't work at the place where they allow a rape to happen. I don't want any reminder of what happened to you, nor should you be subjected to that."

"You don't have to quit, Chase. You need that job," Bridgette said quietly.

Chase shook his head. "No, what I _need_ is you, Bridgette. Bridgette, I love you, and I am going to fight for you. I'll find a job. Don't let that scumbag intimidate you. I just wish you had proof. Maybe you can still be tested. Maybe there is still some sign left that he raped you. I don't know how this kind of thing works."

Bridgette smiled weakly. "Actually, right after the rape, before I even went to my apartment, I stopped by the hospital. I hadn't wanted to, but I wanted the proof that I had been raped even if I never did anything with the proof. I found that nice doctor that Hope knows, Kayla Brady I think her name is. She did the tests, and I have proof that I was raped now. Kayla has it. She promised not to tell anybody unless I gave her permission."

Chase was so happy he went to hug her, but at the last second stepped back. "You are a very smart girl. That is only part of why I love you so much."

Bridgette got tears in her eyes. "You can hug me. I just don't know if I'll be able to commit to having sex any time soon. I'm not ready for that just yet."

Chase slowly went over to her and hugged her tightly. "I'll wait as long as you need me to." He then held her at arms' length as he looked into her eyes. "But when we do, it won't be having sex; it will be making love. I love you so much, Bridge. You need to call the cops. He needs to pay for what he did to you and I don't want him ever hurting you again."

Bridgette nodded. "I will. But I just can't live with all the drama tonight. Do you think you could stay with me? Maybe just let me lie in your arms? I need to feel safe again, and I'm tired…so very tired." Then she added in almost a whisper. "I'm scared of seeing him when I close my eyes."

"I'll stay with you as long as you need me to," Chase gently assured her, holding her close again.

She had tears running down her cheeks. "Thank you."

And that night they lie in bed together without words.

"Chase?" Bridgette asked as she laid in his arms with her head on his chest, silent tears streaming down her cheeks.

"Yes, Bridge?" Chase asked softly.

"By the way. I love you too," she said simply.

Chase kissed the top of her head, and silent tears ran down his own cheeks.


	84. S4E9

_**This Love…**_

 _ **Season 4 Episode 9: That'll Be the Day**_

The next morning, Bridgette woke up early. She showered, and then got dressed into her pink Juicy Couture velour track she had had for ten years yet still fit into. When she headed into the kitchen, she saw that Chase had already made them both some coffee, bacon, cheese scrambled eggs, and white toast with butter. He had also poured them both a glass or orange juice with extra pulp, just as he knew Bridgette liked it. He was already dressed in jeans and a tee-shirt. He had a bunch of his clothes and extra underwear that he had left at her place a while back, and thankfully, Bridgette hadn't gotten rid of any of it during the purge of her own clothes the other day.

"Thanks," she said sitting across from him at the table. "I'm going to need my strength for today." She sipped her coffee. He had already put the cream and sugar in it for her. He knew how to make it perfectly for her, and she was grateful for that.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" He asked, gently placing his hand over her freehand on the table. You're doing the right thing, but I want you to be sure you're ready for this."

Bridgette nodded, and set her coffee down. "This is as ready as I'll ever be. I need to do it now. I can't afford to wait any longer. He can't get away with what he did. What if he does it to one of the other girls at the club?" She suddenly looked frightened. "Oh my gosh, what if he already has?"

Chase shook his head. "I'm sure they would have gone to the cops. Do any of them seem like the type to keep quiet?"

Bridgette shook her head. "No, but he could have tried blackmailing them like he tried doing with me."

"Well, regardless, you're doing something about that now. Heaven forbid if he did rape one of the other girls, maybe this will give them the courage to come forward too." Chase gently pat her hand.

Bridgette sighed. "I hope so."

Ten minutes later, they had finished their breakfast, and five more minutes, they had brushed their teeth and gotten their sneakers on.

"Let's go to the police station first, and then you can call Kayla and warn her that they will be wanting the rape documentation," Chase said gently.

Bridgette nodded. "She knew this wasn't going to be an easy time for her, but it had to be done.

She narrowed her eyes as Chase helped her into the car and she thought of what Max had done

to her. He was going to pay for what he had done to her. He would learn a lesson what happened to rapists, and hopefully, he would never ever be able to hurt another woman or anyone else like that ever again. In fact, she would see to it that he wouldn't.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

"I'm going to miss you," Hope murmured when Aiden shut off the alarm. He had to work that day. Hope had the day off, and planned on spending it running last minute errands for the wedding, and enjoying some mamma and twins time.

Aiden leaned down and kissed her softly on the lips. "I'll miss you too, but I'll be back by dinner." He gently stroked some hair out of her eyes and smiled down at her.

"I wish we could have lunch together at least," she said with a pout.

"Me too, but I'm barely going to have time to eat lunch between court appearances. It's a hectic day today. Trust me, I wish I could spend it all day in bed with you," he murmured.

Hope pulled him down on top of her. "Then spend all day in bed with me. You're the boss. You can do what you want. Have Jason or one of your other associates take care of your court appearances for you." She began kissing down the side of his neck. "I need you to take care of me today."

Aiden moaned. "As tempting as that offer is, sadly, it doesn't work that way. My clients will be upset with me if I don't see them through to the end. Besides, it's too last minute to put Jason or anyone else on it. They have their own cases to attend to."

Hope sighed. "All right. I understand."

Aiden glanced at the clock. He then smiled at Hope. "But I suppose if I skip breakfast, I might have time for one quick romp before work." He grinned at her. "After all, we're already here, so we might as well…" He began kissing down the side of her neck.

She titled her head back and smiled, loving the feel of his kisses on her neck. "I don't want you to be hungry. You need to eat something during the day or you won't have energy to win your cases."

"Right now, you're all I'm hungry for. I'll get something quick for lunch, I promise. And as for my energy, trust me, Baby, I've got plenty of energy," he murmured, his hands working to slip her cami off.

Hope smiled. "If you insist…" She sat up slightly and held her arms up, allowing him to pull her cami off, then Aiden gently pushed her back down onto the bed, and she moaned as he quickly got to work on her needs. She loved mornings like this!

 _ **~*came back to me*~**_

"I'm so excited for you to meet my friends Tammy and Evan. They are a blast! I was so excited when Evan told me they were coming for a visit. He and I have been best friends since grade school. We met Tammy in high school. She and Even were high school sweethearts. They finally got married ten years ago after twenty-three years of dating. I was his best man. They have a little boy who just turned ten named Michael," Casey explained on the car ride to The Olive Garden where they were meeting his friends for lunch. Carol had never seen him so happy and excited before.

"It's funny you never told me about him before," Carol said with a smile.

"Well, you know how it is as an adult. Especially when you live in different states. Illinois and California aren't exactly close. They moved to San Fran when he got a job as an ad executive there. He works at one of the top advertising agencies. Anyway, we lost touch. We're Facebook friends, but hadn't really talked in a long while. He contacted me the other day, and I was glad he did."

"Well, I'm excited to meet them," Carol said.

They parked, and then made their way into the restaurant.

Tammy squealed when she saw him. She was of average height with long, curly blonde hair and big green eyes. She was wearing skinny jeans, a white blouse, a leopard-print jacket, and black ankle booties. She looked amazing. She was even wearing a giant emerald necklace that might have looked tacky on anyone else, but on her looked quite eloquent.

Tammy gave Casey a big bear hug. "It's so good to see you! Let's never lose touch again," she said as she squeezed him.

"It's good to see you too," he said sincerely, squeezing her in return.

Evan then hugged him. He was tall and nerdy looking with black wire-framed glasses, brown pants perfectly creased, brown dress shoes, and a wrinkle-free white shirt with a brown suit jacket that matched his pants. He wore a long grayish tweed wool jacket overtop. He had curly brown hair and bright blue eyes.

He hugged Casey. "It's good to see you, Brother!"

Casey hugged him, and pat his back. "You too, Brother!"

Casey then smiled at Carol, "Carol, this is Tammy and Evan." He looked at his friends. "Guys, this is Carol, my girlfriend."

"It's so nice to meet you! I couldn't believe it when Casey told me he had a serious girlfriend. He hasn't had too many of those in his lifetime," Tammy said as she hugged Carol.

Carol grinned. "Really?"

"So I don't go dating every girl I see. Big deal," Casey said with a shrug. He was blushing, and a little embarrassed at her revelation.

Evan hugged Carol tightly. "He's just incredibly picky. He has been as long as I've known him. I'm glad to see he finally found someone he likes. You can consider yourself honored."

Carol smiled, feeling good about Casey liking her despite being his being choosy. "I do."

They were seated then in a booth with Carol sitting across from Tammy, and Casey sitting beside Carol and across from Evan.

They ordered their drinks after sampling the wine of the day, and then they looked over their menus. Once they had ordered, they got to talking.

"So, Casey tells me you two met when Casey gave you his kidney?" Tammy asked.

Carol nodded. "Yes, and it was under very sketchy circumstances."

Evan raised an eyebrow. "Please, do tell."

Carol and Casey then took turns telling them about Andre and his own private doctor and underground hospital.

"Why didn't This Andre guy just have you go to a regular hospital?" Tammy asked, confused.

Carol shrugged. "Who knows? He's weird. Most residents in Salem are not fans of his, and he is not a fan of theirs either. I guess he didn't trust anyone at the hospital because none of the doctors like him and he hates them in return. Also, it was easier for Casey to be my donor without having to go on a list and have his kidney possibly be given to someone else."

"To think, she used to date Andre!" Casey piped in.

"Temporary insanity," Carol stated.

They all laughed.

Casey smiled and put an arm around Carol, so happy that the love of his life and his good friends were getting along so well.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

Bridgette had insisted on being in the police station when they brought Max in, much to Chase's amazement. He had thought she'd want to steer clear of him. But she had insisted that she needed to see him again.

"You!" Max's eyes were cold when he saw Bridgette. "You lying bitch! You asked for it, and now you're trying to pin rape on me. Well the jokes on you! My lawyer will get me out of this, and then you'll never work anywhere in this town again, and neither will your rapist boyfriend."

Bridgette clenched her fists, resisting the urge to slap him. "I've got the medical proof that you raped me. I'm not scared of you. I already have another job, and I know Chase will get one too. Heck, being a beggar on the street would be better than working for you and being raped by you!"

"Well see who's lying and who's telling the truth. They'll never lock me away, and you know it! But once I break free from this mess, if you want some more of me, you can have me. But you're going to have to come begging on your hands and knees." Max licked his lips. "But you're used to doing that with me, aren't you?"

Bridgette snapped then. She ran after him and jumped on him, ripping at his hair and scratching at his face **. "I hate you, you sick son of a bitch! You raped me and you're never ever going to do that ever again! Not ever!"**

Max laughed as Chase and an officer pulled her off of him. "I can have you arrested for abuse, you know."

Bridgette nodded. "Good! Go ahead. It will prove how angry I am at you. How angry I am because you raped me!"

"Lucky for you, I like them feisty." He winked at her. "I won't press charges. I want you around when I get out." He darted his tongue in and out at her.

"Shut up and keep walking before I let her beat the bloody pulp out of you and turn a blind eye to it," the officer in charge of him snapped.

Ma x smirked at Bridgette, un-deterred, and let the police take him down to booking.

"Are you okay?" Chase asked her.

Bridgette nodded. "I'm not sure I'll ever be okay, but I'm better now that I got a chunk out of him." She grinned, and showed Chase some of Max's skin cells underneath her fingernails.

Chase shook his head and smiled. He held her close. "You're crazy. But he deserved it. You should have also bit the hell out of him."

Bridgette smiled, and let him hold her. "Had you and the officer not held me back, I would have." She then looked up at him. "Once we're done here, do you think we could stop by the hospital? I'd like to set an appointment up with that Marlena Evans lady you know. I think it's about time I start seeing a shrink again, and I hear she's good."

"They say she's the best," Chase admitted. He kissed the top of her head. "Of course we can."

"Thanks," Bridgette said. She was grateful to have Chase in her corner.

They then headed to Roman's office, to see if there was anything else he needed from Bridgette before they left.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

Hope was smiling as she left the tailor's. Her dress was finished being tailored, and would be delivered to her tomorrow. The twins had just had their final fitting, and she was going to have their suit and dress delivered with her dress tomorrow. Aiden had gone elsewhere for his and his wedding party's suits. The bridesmaids' dresses had been finished the day before, and each bridesmaid would be picking up her own dress. Ciara was thrilled with her dress, which had been FedExed overnight to her in California. She had received it an hour ago, and she had called Hope to rave over the fit.

Hope had just sat down to have a quick lunch in the Square, when Dr. Davis arrived. He smiled at her and waved to her.

She smiled awkwardly and waved back. For living a half hour away, he sure was always around lately, she noticed.

"Hope! Are you here alone?" he asked her.

"Just me and my babies," she said, wishing that Aiden were there.

"Mind if I join you? I had come to town to look at a patient of mine who lives here in Salem. She is eighty-nine years old and can't travel as easily as she used to be able to. She still refuses to see any doctor but me, so she is the one and only patient I agree to do house calls for," Dr. Davis explained. "I figured I'd grab a quick bite before going home."

"Sure." Hope smiled weakly. She really didn't want him to join her, but how could she say no? "That's really sweet of you to do that for her. I hope she's going to be all right."

"Yes, just the beginning stages of pneumonia, but I gave her some medication to get rid of it before it gets worse." He then looked over at the twins. "Finally I get to meet these two cuties! Oh, they are even more adorable than their pictures! Do you mind if I hold them?"

"Well, Maddie is sleeping, but you can hold Haiden," Hope said, picking up Haiden, who was smiling. She handed him carefully to Dr. Davis.

As soon as Dr. Davis held him, Haiden started screaming.

"I'm sorry! He's usually so good!" Hope said.

"I guess it's good I'm not a pediatrician, huh?" Dr. Davis asked sheepishly with a wink and a smile. He handed Haiden back to Hope, and Haiden instantly settled, as quickly as if a light switch had been switched.

"I think he's just very attached to me," Hope tried to cover up. In reality, Haiden normally liked everyone. She gently put him back in his stroller beside Maddie, and he relaxed. Miraculously, Maddie hadn't woken up from his cries.

Hope and Dr. Davis sat down, and a waitress came over to take their drink orders. They both ordered lemonades, and then they looked over their menus, making small talk.

"I'll have a chicken salad sandwich on white please, and maybe some chips to go with it," Hope ordered once the waitress had come back with their drinks.

"That sounds good. I'll have the same," Dr. Davis ordered politely.

"So, Aiden tells me he got your case thrown out," Hope said with a smile as she picked Haiden up to feed him some puréed bananas that she had brought along.

"Yes, he is so good at what he does. I knew I made the right choice when picking him to be my lawyer," Dr. Davis said, practically beaming.

Hope smiled. "He's definitely the best. He's been doing what he does for a long time now."

Their conversation was light and pleasant for the rest of lunch, and once the twins were fed, Maddie was awake, but happy to play with her stuffed bunny now that her stomach was full and she had slept. Haiden always got tired after a meal and hadn't slept when Maddie had, so now he was out like a light.

"Thanks for paying for my lunch, Dr. — I mean, Marshall. I remembered this time." She grinned at Marshall.

Marshall grinned. "It was quite the pleasure." He took her hand and kissed it. "You know, it's not too late to change your mind about marrying Aiden," he said.

Hope was confused. "Why would I want to do that? Change my mind?"

Marshall shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe if you found another man you might want to be with instead, who could provide quite handsomely for you and your children. Like say, me?"

Hope suddenly felt extremely uncomfortable, and even a little angry. "Marshal, I love Aiden, and I would never—"

"Hope! Relax, I was only joking," Dr. Marshall said with a laugh.

"It didn't sound like you were joking," Hope said, not laughing back or even cracking a smile.

"I'm sorry. It was a bad joke. I've always had a warped sense of humor. I apologize. Please, forgive me," Marshall said, placing a hand over her arm.

Hope stepped away. "It's fine. Have a good night now. And thank you again for lunch. I really appreciate your generosity." She just wanted to get away from him. She was starting to get really weird vibes from him.

"There's plenty more where that came from, I assure you," he told her.

Hope smiled though her heart wasn't into it. "See you at the rehersal dinner!" she called before quickly heading off to the car with the twins. She really wished he wasn't going to the dinner, but he had insisted it would be easier to get them into Carlivati's if he was part of the party. There was no reason for him to be there other than that, but what could they do?

As Hope drove home, she planned to never see Dr. Marshall again after the wedding if she could help it. The guy gave her the creeps!

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

During dinner, it had all become clear to Carol why Casey had wanted them to all have dinner together. Tammy told her all about her reluctance to get married.

"A lot of people wondered why it took me so long to marry Evan. I was a bit of a marriage phobic. I had seen so many marriages break apart including my parents' marriage. So many strong marriages were being broken up one by one right before my eyes. I was so worried that if Evan and I got married, it would just be one more broken marriage statistic. But one day I realized that I loved him, and we could break up married or not married. I then realized that there were also so many happy marriages that _did_ last. I loved Evan so much and I knew that being married wasn't going to make us magically start to fail. We loved each other with all our hearts and I knew that it was worth taking the risk. Heck, it was too big of a risk _not_ to get married. Now that he and I are married, I see how many wonderful things I missed out on just because I was too afraid to marry him at first," Tammy explained. "We wasted a lot of time that we could have been married, and it was all because of my fear of marriage."

After dessert, they promised to get together for pizza and a game night at Carol's later that night after Evan finished with a conference call by Skype.

"I can hardly wait for you to see Jake again. He was just a baby the last time you saw him He's grown into a handsome man, and he is even going to be in Carol's brother's wedding! He's an usher," Casey said proudly.

Carol smirked at the look on their friends' faces. "Trust me, he's a smart dog. I've literally seen him lead people to their seats. He knows by someone pointing which direction, where they go."

Evan laughed. "Now that I've got to see!"

They said their goodbyes, and gave their hugs, and then Carol and Casey got into Casey's car, and he headed toward her and Chase's condo.

"I know what you were trying to do in there, you know," Carol said.

"I wasn't trying to do anything but introduce you to my friends," Casey said innocently.

Carol rolled her eyes. "Yeah, right. I'm not Tammy, and you're not Evan. I don't want to be pressured anymore, Case. I need time before I agree to marry you. All right? I'm just not ready."

"Will you ever be ready?" Casey asked her.

Carol sighed. "I don't know," she said honestly. She looked over at him. "I'd like to believe I will be one day. I just don't want to make any promises. Okay?" Her tone was gentle.

Casey nodded. "That's fine."

But his tone showed that it was not fine. Carol could hear the hurt in his voice. She didn't want to hurt him or dissapoint him, but she couldn't help it. She knew that it would hurt him more in the end if she married him and then panicked and wanted out. If he truly loved her, he would wait for her, and maybe even be okay with never marrying. There was no way around it. It was just the way things had to be.

 _ **~*came back to me me.*~**_

Hope practically ran into Aiden's arms when he got home that evening.

He smiled. "Well isn't this a welcome surprise!" He kissed her hungrily on the lips. "Feel like eating dinner in bed tonight?" he asked her. "We can order a pizza in." His body was already hungry for her, and he didn't feel like wasting time going out when he could be at home making love to her.

"Marshall hit on me today at lunch," she said bluntly.

Aiden looked confused. "Marshall? You saw him today?"

Hope nodded. "I took the twins to get their wedding attire fitted for the last time, and then stopped at the café for a quick lunch. He appeared and said he was in Salem for a house call for some old woman who can't travel and refuses to see any one but him. He said he had stopped by the café for a quick lunch before heading home. He asked to join me, and I let him. We had an ordinary enough conversation before and during lunch, but then he told me on the way out that it wasn't too late to change my mind about marrying you. I asked him what he meant by that, and he said that he could provide for me and the children if I wanted to be with him instead of you. I started to tell him off, but then he quickly interrupted me and told me he was joking; that he just had a warped sense of humor."

Aiden smirked. "He does have a pretty warped sense of humor. Trust me; I've been around him more than you have. I'm sure he meant no harm. He's just misunderstood. But then his smirk faded. Then again, Marshall clearly had been acting weird. What if he really had meant what he had said to Hope? "On the other hand, just try to stay clear of him. Make up some excuse the next time you see him when you're alone, or text me."

Hope nodded. "I wish he didn't have to go to our rehersal dinner and the wedding."

Aiden nodded. "Trust me, I don't like it either, but he's paying for the rehersal dinner, and we already invited him to the wedding, so we have an obligation, like it or not."

"Not," Hope grumbled. But she knew Aiden was right.

"I'll tell you what. Why don't you go take a nice warm bubble bath, and then maybe slip on that lacy pink night gown I like on you?" He murmured, burying his nose in her hair and inhaling the smell of her lavender-scented shampoo. "I'll order us some dinner, and then we can have dinner in bed and watch a movie…and do some other fun things…" He gently pushed her hair aside and kissed the side of her neck.

Hope smiled. "But what about the twins, Mr. Jennings?"

"Let me take care of their dinner. You know how sleepy they get after a meal. I'll feed them and change them and get them down for the night. By the time the pizza arrives, we'll be all set with the twins asleep in their beds." He kissed her, and placed his hands over her waist. And us awake in our bed," he murmured.

She smiled, and then kissed him. "I love you."

"And I love you," he murmured.

They kissed once more, and then she ran up to take her bath, grateful for Aiden.

Aiden then went up to get the twins, and forgot all about Marshall, as did Hope. At least, for the rest of the evening they forgot about him, that is.


	85. S4E10

_**This Love…**_

 _ **Season 4 Episode 10: Jealous**_

"I can't believe tomorrow we'll be married," Hope said with a happy dazed look in her eyes as she watched Aiden pack an overnight bag. Their rehersal dinner had been the night before. Miraculously, Dr. Davis had called and said he had gotten called into work because someone was off sick. But he had said to go ahead and enjoy the dinner without him. That they had. Immensely. Both Hope and Aiden had felt more at ease without Marshall there. "You know, you don't have to sleep at the Salem Inn." Hope gently began to massage his shoulders.

Aiden smiled at her. "Yes I do. You know how I feel about superstition when it comes to this kind of thing. I don't want anything ruining our perfect day. I blew it apart the last time we got married, and I'll be dammed if I do it again."

Hope turned him around and pulled him close to her. She rested her forehead against his. "I don't want to hear anything more about that time in our lives. It's done, it's over, and neither one of us are the same people we were back then. We've both made some huge mistakes in our lives. It's more than time that we forgive each other and forgive ourselves so that we can finally move on together and have the happy life we always dreamed of having together."

"I'm up for that," Aiden said happily. Sometimes he still couldn't believe how lucky he was to get yet another chance from Hope. There was a time when he had thought he had lost her for good.

She ran her hands slowly up his chest. "I hope you're up for many things, Mr. Jennings," she purred. Her kisses down his neck and her hand brushing against the crotch of his pants left no confusion as to what she meant.

He moaned. "Baby, you're going to make us both late for our parties."

She glanced at her watch. "We still have an hour and a half. We have plenty of time."

But Aiden shook his head. "I want to wait until after we're married. It's only one night."

Hope smirked, and raised an eyebrow. "It's a little late for waiting until after we're married, don't you think?"

Aiden grinned. "You know what I mean. I think wanting each other now, but not giving into our passion until tomorrow night will make it all the more special and enjoyable."

"The fact in itself that we'll be married will be enough to make it more special and enjoyable whether we make love now or not, but I get what you're saying." She kissed him on the cheek. "You're worth the wait."

Aiden tried to kiss her lips, but she gently pushed him away.

"I want to wait to kiss until we're officially declared husband and wife," she said to him with a smile and a wink.

"This is to get back at me for making you wait on making love, isn't it?" Aiden asked.

Hope shrugged. "I just think it will be more special and enjoyable if we wait." She turned her back on him to hide a smile.

Aiden smirked, and called her bluff. "You're absolutely right."

Hope turned to face him. "So we're in agreement then."

Aiden nodded. "A hundred percent."

Hope nodded too. She wasn't a hundred percent pleased with this deal, but she supposed it really would make it more special when they married.

Aiden finished packing. "I packed an extra set of clothes. I figured spending our first night as husband and wife should be at The Salem Inn as kind of a nod to when we first started being intimate and we'd always go to The Salem Inn because neither of us could go back to our own places."

Hope grinned. "I love that idea!"

"Plus, our first wedding night here at the house didn't go the way it should have. I don't want to bring back any bad memories for you," Aiden said, melancholy.

"Hey!" Hope raised an eyebrow. "Did we not just agree to forget about the past?"

Aiden sat down on the bed and sighed. "I'm sorry. I know. I just still can't believe that I ever even thought of… I can't even say it out loud."

Hope sat down beside him and gently stroked his hair. "You did it because your son's life was at risk. You weren't thinking straight. And even then you ended up not being able to go through with it. I should have been more understanding. I'm just sorry that it took me shooting and killing Stefano to realize that when in such deep distress, you're capable of doing things you normally would never do. I mean, Stefano was an old man in a wheelchair. Goading me or not, I am a cop, and I should have known better. I was used to him taunting me and my family and friends. But I snapped, then tried to cover it up. I never should have let Rafe talk me into covering it up. I should have just come clean right from the beginning. At least then I would have fessed up to what I did, and could have gotten temporary insanity. Covering it up just made it worse."

Aiden smiled. "Rafe's not the brightest crayon in the box sometimes, and is very self-centered. He was more concerned with being the hero than with what was actually good for you."

Hope smirked at him. "Be nice. Bottom line is, I should have understood where you were coming from. Had I been in that same situation with Ciara, it would have driven me mad as well."

Aiden gently stroked her cheek. "Andre said he'd kill him if I told you or anyone. I really didn't know what to do. But that night after making love to you as your husband, I knew I could never do it. It snapped me out of my insanity. But then Andre came along and held me captive and I was so worried. For those six months all I could do was worry about you and pray to God that you were still alive. I'll never forgive myself for getting you into that position in the first place. Not to mention when I came back I blackmailed you into being with me. I just hated seeing you with Rafe. I loved you so much I couldn't bear the thought of losing you again—especially after being held captive and fighting to get back to you for six months. I want you to know that I was bluffing. I never would have taken the tape to the police. That was all Andre. I don't even know how he got a copy of it."

"This time around, let us not be afraid to be completely honest with each other. No more lies. No more secrets." She looked Aiden in the eyes. "And no more dealing with the Dimeras or anyone else shady and underhanded."

"And no more letting Rafe Dumbass Hernadez tell you what to do or what's best for you," Aiden added. He grinned.

Hope shot him a look, but then broke into a grin as well. "Deal!"

"Kiss on it?" Aiden tried.

Hope smirked, and got up off the bed. "Nice try. Finish packing, Jennings."

"You're no fun!" he said as he got up off the bed to go grab his toiletries.

"That's not what you'll be saying on our wedding night!" she called out as she left the room to go check on the twins.

Aiden moaned. Their wedding night couldn't come soon enough!

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

"I don't want you going to the bachelor party tonight," Amanda said to Lucas as they rode in her car to her home. She was taking Lucas to meet her daughter Elizabeth for the first time.

"I have to, Honey. I'm part of the bridal party. Aiden's become my best friend. I not only need to be there for him, I _want_ to be there for him," Lucas said gently.

"I don't want you looking at trashy women dancing their brains out half naked," Amanda said, sounding annoyed.

"Aiden said that he and Hope both agreed to no strippers. They just want simple parties," Lucas assured her.

Amanda narrowed her eyes at him. "I don't believe you. You're just saying that because you want to go."

"Sweetheart, please put your eyes back on the road," Lucas said nervously.

"Sorry," Amanda grumbled, looking at the road again.

"I promise you, there will be no strippers. Aiden's not even that big of a drinker, so we're just going to go to the Brady Pub, have dinner together, and then we're going to drive the go-carts at the go-cart track. It was his son Chase's idea, and we all thought it might be fun. Then finally, we'll head back to his hotel room, pig out, and watch a movie or something," Lucas explained.

"That sounds like the lamest bachelor party I've ever heard of," Amanda said simply. But then she smiled. "All right, you can go. Not that you need my permission. I'm not trying to be a bitch, Honey. I guess I just get jealous at the thought of a prettier woman than me prancing around half naked—if not naked—in front of you."

"Well, that isn't possible because no one could be prettier than you. Anyway, Aiden will be the focus of the attention—not me. But we won't be having a stripper anyway, as I said," Lucas assured her.

"You really think there's no one prettier than me?" Amanda asked with a shy smile and a slight blush to her cheeks.

"Not a girl in this world," Lucas confirmed.

"You're so sweet. I really love you," Amanda told him.

Lucas smiled. "And I love you."

They arrived at Amanda's home, and entered her house.

Elizabeth came walking out into the living room as soon as she heard the front door open. She was curious about this new man her mother was bringing home.

"Hey Liz! Where's Tammy?" Amanda asked, referring to the babysitter.

"I sent her home. She told me she has a hot date tonight she was looking forward to, and I told her she could go home early to get ready. She told me it always takes her forever to get looking just right for him. She said you can just pay her double next time," Elizabeth said with a shrug.

"Seriously? She left a ten-year-old alone?" Amanda asked. "Unbelievable! And she can forget about being paid for today or even a 'next time'."

"Mom, don't be angry with her. I assured her you'd be home at any time. I'm the one who told her she could go," Elizabeth said sweetly.

"Well, she should know better than to listen to a ten-year-old. And since she knew I was going to be home at any time anyway, she should have just waited." Amanda was livid. "Who leaves a ten-year-old alone in the house?"

Since her mother wasn't introducing them, Elizabeth walked over to Lucas and held out her hand. "Hello! My name is Elizabeth Francesca Taylor. I take it you're Lucas? It's very nice to meet you."

Lucas smiled and shook her hand. "And it's very nice to meet you too, Elizabeth!" He smirked. "Were you named after the actress Elizabeth Taylor?"

"Yup! Well, her first and last name anyway. And please, call me Liz. Everyone else does." She then leaned in and whispered to Lucas. "Unless my mom is really angry with me, then she uses my full name—middle and last name included."

Lucas laughed. "All right, Liz. You're very mature for your age." He could hardly believe this little girl speaking to him was only ten!

Amanda smiled, and gently stroked her hair. "I take pride in my sweetheart being a mature young woman. Even so…" She looked down at Liz. "Please don't tell a babysitter she can leave you alone again. I know you're a big girl, but anything can go wrong. A fire could start, or someone dangerous could come to the door. I know none of that is likely to happen, and I'm not trying to scare you. It's just that, I'm your mother, and I don't want anything bad to happen to my only child. All right?"

Liz nodded. "I promise I won't. I'm sorry, Mama."

Amanda kissed her cheek. "It's okay. No harm done. This time anyway."

"I'm sorry I can't stay too long. My friend is getting married tomorrow and I have to go to his bachelor party this evening," Lucas said to Liz.

Liz smiled. "It's cool. Maybe this Friday? I love doing stuff Friday nights because I don't have school to dread the next morning."

"Friday should work if it all right with your mom," Luca said kindly. Ciara would be back until Sunday and she could watch the twins.

"Works for me. Maybe we can do lunch and then see that new Selena Gomez movie you've been dying to see," Amanda said to Liz.

Liz smiled big. "Okay!"

"So, you don't like school? Lucas asked her, picking up on the fact that Liz had talked about dreading school."

Liz shrugged. "It's okay. I like my friends and teachers. I just hate the work. It's hard, and I have to study all the time."

"Well, don't work too hard," Lucas said. He found it hard to believe a ten-year-old, which he figured would make her a fifth grader, would have that much studying to do.

"Well, let's go drop Lucas back home, and then I'll take you to get some ice cream. We need to get you back in time to do your homework before bed," Amanda told her.

Liz nodded. "Okay."

A half an hour later, they were back at Lucas' place.

"Please tell your friend congratulations for me!" Liz called out to him after he said his goodbyes and got out of the car.

Lucas grinned. "I will. Thank you. It was very nice meeting you, and I will see you Friday!"

"It was very nice meeting you too! See you Friday," Liz agreed happily.

"I'll call you tomorrow," Lucas said to Amanda.

"Call me tonight after the party!" Amanda insisted.

"It might get late," Lucas warned her.

She shrugged. "I'll be up."

"All right. I'll call you tonight then," Lucas gave in.

Amanda smiled. "Love you."

"I love you too." Lucas shut the door, and then ran into the house to get ready quick as Amanda and Elizabeth headed off to get ice cream, and then go home.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

"I'll see you tomorrow, my Love." Aiden said, pulling Hope close, and wishing he could kiss her.

Hope smiled, sensing he wanted to kiss her. "Fine. One last kiss before we're husband and wife."

They kissed, and Aiden held her for an extra moment, kissing her more passionately. Hope was breathless when he finally released her. He grinned at her. "I had to make it count if it's gonna hold me off until tomorrow."

Hope smiled. "I love you."

"I love you too, Baby. Have a good night, my love, and tomorrow, you will be my wife."

"I can hardly wait!" Hope said.

"Believe me, Baby, neither can I," Aiden said. He kissed her cheek, and then left.

Hope smiled, and sighed happily once he had left. She then rushed upstairs to quickly change before Carol picked her up for her bachelorette party.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

Carol arrived with Jake, and Ciara at the same time that Will arrived. Carol had picked Ciara up at the airport for Hope, and of course Casey hadn't wanted to leave Jake alone for that long of time. The twins loved Jake, and thought he was funny, so Hope didn't object.

"Thanks for agreeing to watch the twins, Will," Hope replied. All our other usual baby sitters are going to be at the bachelor and bachelorette parties."

"So I'm your last resort, and not only that, I wasn't even invited to the bachelor party," Will said with a smirk.

Hope instantly felt bad. "I wouldn't say last resort. The twins love you. Aiden doesn't really know you well enough to have thought to invite you, and—"

Will laughed. "Hope, relax! I was only kidding. I get it. Anyway, I love watching the twins the rare times I get to. They remind me of when Ari was a baby."

"They're almost eight months now, so they aren't as easy to handle as they were the last time you watched them," Hope warned him.

"I know, Hope. Trust me, I got it all covered. You went over all this with me ahead of time so that you wouldn't be late for your party tonight," he reminded her with a knowing smile. It had been a long time ago, but he still remembered being overprotective and overly concerned when Ari was that age. It came with the territory of being a parent.

It took ten more minutes before Hope was able to get herself to leave the twins. With a kiss and a goodbye to both twins, she, Ciara, and Carol left for the party.

Jake walked over and licked Haiden, and then Maddie's cheek. Both babies laughed, and it made Will laugh too.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

"Are you sure you don't want a stripper? It's not to late to get you one," Jennifer teased Hope as they arrived at Chez Rough for a classier dinner before they would head on to Club Excess for a drink or two and a little dancing.

Hope laughed. "I'm good, thanks. Aiden is the only naked man I want grinding up against me."

Ciara made a face. "Mom, please! We haven't even had our dinner yet. Don't ruin my appetite. That's really sick!"

Hope smirked. She knew this time it wasn't so much of a dig at Aiden as it was Ciara not wanting to think of her mother having a sex life. "Sorry, Baby," she said with a blush.

"I'm so glad you're not having a stripper. It totally takes the fun out of watching if you have to watch with your mom," Ciara then added.

"Good point," Jennifer replied and they all laughed.

They all got seated, and fifteen minutes later, they had ordered, and were waiting for their meals. Hope had decided to ask Abigail on as a bridesmaid and Aiden had asked JJ to be a groomsman, so now they each had four supporting them as bridesmaids and groomsmen.

"Okay, while we're waiting for our food, I want to give you this to borrow for your wedding tomorrow." Jennifer took out a blue velvet box and opened it up to reveal a pearl necklace.

Hope gasped. "Is that the pearl necklace Gram gave you for your sixteenth birthday that I always envied?"

Jennifer nodded and smiled. "You may have it until your wedding is over. But let me tell you, Cuz, I want it back before you leave the Tulip Garden. It is still mine, and you still can't have it!" She grinned at Hope. She was half playing around in homage to when they were both in their twenties, but in truth, she really was overprotective of the necklace and always had been. She only wore it on special occasions, and knew that Hope would like it for hers.

Hope took it. "I will take care of it as if it were one of the twins."

"Yeah, I'm going to need you to take care of it even better than you do the twins," Jennifer told her, and they all laughed.

"I have my something blue. Aiden game me a stunningly beautiful diamond and sapphire tennis bracelet," Hope informed them.

"And I got you a new guarder. I ordered it special." Carol handed her a guarder that had pretty silk purple and navy tulips all over it.

"Carol, it's so beautiful and perfect! Thank you!" Hope said to her.

Carol grinned proudly. "You're welcome."

"And I know the necklace is old too, but I thought I'd let you wear my emerald ring Grandma Caroline handed down to me. It used to be hers when she was a teenager," Ciara said, passing over her ring to Hope. "This way you can have a separate something old."

"Thank you, Baby. I'll take good care of it and give it back to you right after the wedding," Hope said. She slipped the ring on her right pinky. It fit Ciara's ring finger, but Ciara's fingers were a bit smaller than her mother's were.

They had a wonderful dinner, and had a blast dancing and drinking (but not too much drinking) at Club Excess. They had even given Hope a crown and a bachelorette sash to wear while dancing. They then headed back to Jennifer's place for donuts and coffee.

When Ciara was in the bathroom, Carol and Jennifer both gave her extremely racy pieces of lingerie, which Hope knew Aiden would love.

"I tried not to think about the fact that my brother is the one who will be seeing this lingerie," Carol said as she gave Hope a sexy little red number.

Hope smirked. "Yeah, you probably don't want to think too much about that!" she agreed.

Jennifer had given her something a little lest risqué. It was a nightgown and white, but it was extremely short, came with a matching lacy pink G-string, and had two mesh hearts over her breasts.

"We figured Ciara wouldn't want to see her mother receive these gifts," Jennifer explained.

Hope laughed. "I'm sure you're right." She hugged both women. "Thank you."

Ciara came back out then, and gave Hope her gift. It was a photo album with a beautiful photo of Aiden and Hope in a heart frame on the front cover. The cover read, _Our New Life Together._ She had even filled out the first couple of pages with a picture of Hope and Aiden from around the time they had first become a couple for the first time. There was also a few of them as a family with Ciara and Chase at nine-years-old. Then there were a few more recent ones, including one rom around time they started dating again after Hope divorced Rafe, a couple from Hope's pregnancy shoot that Aiden had surprised her with, some of them and the twins, and finally the best of their engagement photos.

"You can fill in the rest as you go along. I made sure to get the biggest album they had," Ciara explained to her.

"Baby, it's so perfect! Thank you. I love it and I know that Aiden will too." Hope kissed her cheek and hugged her.

Ciara smiled. "You're welcome!"

Kayla had given her an envelope of cash.

"I know it's kind of tacky, but I didn't know what else to give you. I figured this way you can use it to buy yourself something pretty on your honeymoon," Kayla explained.

Hope hugged her. "It's not tacky, it's perfect! Thank you, Kay." They hugged.

Hope's other gifts included a gift certificate from Abigail for Hope and Aiden to get a family portrait painted from a very in-demand painter in town. Hope was excited for the gift and thanked Abigail profusely.

Claire gave Hope some barely there leather outfit meant for the bedroom only. She did it to make Ciara squirm, but Ciara wasn't going to let Claire one up her.

"Aiden will definitely love to see you in that, Mom! In fact, he may want to extend the honeymoon." Ciara smirked at Hope and winked at her as she tried not to think of what she had just said to her mother. Not letting Claire get the best of her meant more to her than not grossing herself out.

Hope blushed, and Claire shot Ciara a snotty look, which Ciara happily returned.

The aunt and niece got along much better nowadays, but every now and then they still enjoyed sticking it to each other even if not as severely as they used to do a couple years ago.

Hope thanked them all for their gifts again, and they spent about two hours more chatting, laughing, and playing stupid but fun bachelorette party games. Finally the party was over, and they all hugged Hope and promised to see her in the morning to help her get ready.

It had been a fun party, and Hope was excited for the next morning.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

Dinner at The Brady Pub had been fun. They had even played a game of darts to see who ended up paying for the drinks. Aiden had one drink, but declined any more than that. Jason, Aiden's associate, had lost at darts. He was almost as bad as Aiden was.

After dinner, when they were about to head out to go go-carting, Steve arrived. He hadn't been there for the dinner, and he wasn't in the wedding party, so Aiden was surprised to see him.

"Can I talk to you for a moment in private before you all head out to the go-cart track?" Steve asked him.

Aiden nodded, wondering what this was about. He didn't want to have any trouble the night before his and Hope's wedding. Or the day of the wedding either.

They walked over to a corner booth and sat down.

"We missed you at dinner," Aiden told him. _Not_ , he silently added. "What's up? Are you here to tell me yet again that I'm not good enough for Hope, and that I should cancel the wedding and leave town?" Aiden asked.

Steve smirked. "I had dinner plans with my son. And as tempting as telling you to cancel the wedding is, no, I'm not here to tell you that. In fact, quite the contrary."

Aiden looked surprised. "Oh?"

"Look, it's no secret that I'm not your biggest fan, and I'm not going to lie, you and I will never be close like Bo and I were, or even like Rafe and I were," Steve began.

Aiden nodded. "I wouldn't expect any differently."

Steve nodded as well. "Good! But for Hope's sake and of course Kayla's sake, I'm willing to be civil to you and to give you another shot. You seem to be making Hope very happy these days, and I can see you're a better, more trustworthy dude now than you were then."

"Trust me, Steve, I am. I will never hurt Hope again," Aiden assured him.

Steve smirked. "Trust. Yeah, I'm not sure I can ever _fully_ trust you. I'm going to be keeping an eye on you.'

Aiden laughed. "Literally an eye," he said referring to the fact that Steve only had one eye left.

"Haha. You're _hilarious_ ," Steve said sarcastically, trying his best to hide the smile that was threatening at the corners of his mouth. "I'll give you the benefit of the doubt. I will be cordial and nice to you whenever Kayla invites you guys over or vise-versa. But we will not have a relationship outside of our wives."

"That is more than fine with me," Aiden said with a nod.

"Good! I'm glad I made myself clear." Steve then held out a hand to him. "Congratulations. You've got a real prize on your hands."

Aiden shook his hand. "I know I do, believe me."

Steve then stood up. "Well, we might as well go go-carting now. But be aware, I ride my motorcycle daily. I'm going to cream you."

"I'm not even going to pretend I have a chance," Aiden said, standing up as well.

Steve grinned. "Well, at least you're not stupid."

It was Aiden's turn to be sarcastic this time. "Ha ha…"

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

The rest of the bachelor party had been fun. Aiden had to admit, racing around a track, though a bit scary, was fun. It was a rush. He wasn't sure he'd want to do that on a daily basis, but he had had a fun time. Chase had looked happier than he'd seen him look lately, what with everything that was going on with Bridgette, so Aiden was even gladder they had chosen to do the go-carts.

As promised, Steve had creamed them all, although Chase had given him a run for his money. There had even been an old arcade at the go-cart track, and it had a ton of the old 80s games Aiden used to play as a kid and teenager. They spent a couple hours go-carting and playing video games, though Steve left right after the go-carting. The rest of them got Slurpees, and then did a grocery store run for junk food, and then ended the night watching _A Lot Like Love_ in Aiden's hotel room, and laughing at how Amanda Peet looked a lot like Hope.

Aiden was so happy that Dr. Davis had called to cancel. He had been called in for an emergency appendectomy, and simply could not make it to the bachelor party. Aiden was hoping that between him not making the rehersal dinner, and now him not making the bachelor party, that he had taken the hint and was backing off. Now if only Marshall wouldn't show up at the wedding, they'd be all set! But Aiden knew they wouldn't be that lucky.

Aiden's cell phone rang right after he had finished getting ready for bed and had gotten into bed. He saw it was Hope. With a smile, he answered it. "Hello?"

"Hello, My love. Is your party over yet?"

"Yes it is. It just ended as a matter of fact. Is yours over?"

"Yes. We had fun, but I'm so tired now. I wanna get some sleep in now so that I look beautiful for you tomorrow."

"Baby, you'd look beautiful even after having not slept for forty-eight hours."

Hope yawned. "You're always so sweet. Even so, I'm exhausted. I just wanted to call you before bed and tell you that I love you, and that I can't wait to be your wife tomorrow."

"And baby, I can hardly wait to make you my bride. I love and miss you too, but after tonight, we'll never have to be apart again."

"How was your party? No stripper, right?"

Aiden smiled. "No stripper. Your body is the only body I'm interested in. It was fun. Steve even went go-carting with us. Before that he even said to me that he will accept me as your husband. But he'll be keeping his one eye on me."

Hope laughed. "Stop! And I'm sure he will."

"No stripper for you either, right?" Aiden checked.

"No one. I only want you," she said.

"Good answer!" Aiden replied.

"It's the only answer I have. Good night, my Love. The next time we talk, I'll be becoming Mrs. Aiden Jennings."

"Mm, I like the sound of that. Goodnight, Beautiful."

"Goodnight, Handsome."

They hung up then, both smiling as they turned off the lights in their separate rooms and went to sleep.


	86. S4E11

_**This Love…**_

 _ **Seaspn 4 Episode 11: This Love**_

It was a beautiful spring day. Hope and Aiden couldn't have asked for a more perfect day for their wedding. The sun was out and the temperature was a perfect 75 degrees Fahrenheit. Hope was going to get ready at the house, and then take a white limo the half hour away to The Tulip Garden.

"That dress is so stunning!" Jennifer said as she admired the stunning white sparkly dress Hope was wearing. It was mesh only over the arms and over the top of the collarbone. The rest was white and sparkly from the breasts down. "You look like a fairytale princess in it!"

Hope smiled. "At first I was worried about it being over the top. The gown I had originally chosen was floral. Then I saw this at the last second and knew I had to have this one instead. There's no veil, but I don't care. I think the dress speaks for itself even without the veil."

"It does!" Jennifer agreed.

"And we even got these clip on faux diamonds to clip in her hair around the bun," Claire said excitedly. Hope had hired a makeup artist and a hair stylist to make sure that her hair and makeup looked perfect. Her hair was in a beautiful top bun with a curled wisp of hair hanging loose on each side of her face.

"Which reminds me, I have to get those on you now," her hair stylist Kimberly said with a wink.

"And once she's done, it's time for your makeup," Belinda the makeup artist informed her.

"Do you have all your blue, borrowed, old, and new items on?" Carol asked her.

Hope smiled. "I do!"

"Here are your shoes, mom," Ciara said handing her a sparkly silver pair of heels that completed the look.

"And I hope you have the lingerie ready in your overnight bag," Claire said with a grin and a sly eyebrows wiggle.

Hope laughed. "Of course I do!"

"Gross!" Ciara muttered.

Claire smirked.

"You're going to be the most beautiful bride to ever exist," Kaya said to her as she gently massaged Hope's shoulders while Hope sat in the hair and makeup chair.

"As were all of you. Well, as Ciara and Claire will be when they finally decide to settle down with some nice guys and get married," Hope said with a smirk.

"Or a nice woman," Ciara piped in.

Hope smiled. "Or a nice woman," she corrected.

"I like Aiden. I'm really glad you decided to give him another chance. I know what he did was beyond bad, but in an odd way, it's kind of romantic in a way. He thought his son was going to be killed if he didn't kill you, and yet, he still couldn't kill you. He loved you that much," Abigail said.

"I guess that's one way to look at it," Hope said. She preferred to forget that time with him entirely. It didn't matter any longer anyway. He wasn't that person anymore.

"He's had some tough times, but he's come back and turned his life around. I can respect him for changing his ways and becoming a better person," Kayla said.

"I agree. I know I judged him harshly in the past. I was wrong for that. I certainly wasn't one to judge! None of us are. Except for Kayla. You're a freaking saint!" Jennifer said.

Kayla laughed. "Believe me, I'm not. I make mistakes just like the rest of us. But yes. You'll never find someone who loves you as much as Aiden does. He's a damn good lawyer and gave you two beautiful children. He righted his wrongs, and hey he never cheated on you. As much as I love my brother, and as perfect as you and my brother were for each other, I have to admit that Aiden is the only man who never cheated on you."

Hope smiled. "Yes, he is. It makes me feel loved."

"Because you are. Aiden is cool, and not to mention _so_ hot. If I were older, and he wasn't so hung up on you, I'd go after him myself!" Claire said.

"You better watch it, Mom. Claire has a history of stealing people's boyfriends. I doubt you being married would make a difference to her," Ciara quipped.

Claire shot her a look. "Haha, very funny!"

"Be nice to each other. It's my wedding day," Hope said with a smile.

"Sorry," Ciara apologized.

Kimberly finished with Hope's hair and then Belinda took over with the makeup.

Hope sighed happily. In just a short while she would be heading out to marry Aiden, the love of her life. She could hardly wait!

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

"You look handsome, Dad," Chase said to Aiden as Aiden straightened his navy tie.

"Thanks. You don't think the suit is too much?" he asked, a little worried. He had chosen a navy blue suit with a white dress shirt and a navy blue silk vest that had a blue paisley print. He wore the vest over the shirt and under the jacket. His tie and pocket hankie matched the paisley print. His dress paints were plain navy blue linen that matched his jacket. He wore navy socks and black shiny patent leather dress shoes. He wore a silver Rolex on his left wrist. His hair was styled in his usual way, with a few of the longer strands framing his forehead.

"No. I think it's great! It differentiates you from me and the groomsmen," Chase replied.

Aiden nodded. "That's why I chose it."

There was a knock on the door then. Chase opened it, and in walked Casey and Jake. Jason and Lucas weren't far behind.

"You look great!" Lucas said, clapping him on the back.

"Are you nervous?" Jason asked with a smile. "I know I was nervous as hell when I married my wife. And that was my second marriage!"

Aiden laughed. "I am a little nervous, but I know I have no reason to be. This time around it's going to be so much better than it was the last time."

"Yeah, you won't be planning to kill her later in the night," Chase joked.

They all looked at him.

Chase coughed. "Sorry. Bad joke. Not funny I know. I'm stupid."

"It's a good thing I heard about that in the paper back when it happened. Otherwise I'd want to know what he hell he was talking about," Jason joked, trying to lighten the mood.

Aiden smiled weakly. He hated being reminded of that time in his life. He still hadn't completely forgiven himself for that despite the fact that he had felt he had no choice, and that he hadn't been able to go through with it anyway.

"Hey. It's over and in the past," Casey said, placing a hand over his shoulder, sensing his sadness. "It's time to look to the future and forget the past."

Jake barked.

"And Jake agrees with me!" Casey said.

This time they all laughed.

"I guess we better be going now so that I'm not late to my own wedding. I also don't think this hotel is pet friendly. Well it is if you pay am extra fee, which I did not pay," Aiden said. "But he does look adorable in that suit."

"He does, doesn't he? And oops! Off we go then." Casey said.

They then headed out. Before leaving though, Aiden paused in the doorway and smiled knowing that the next time he came back to this room, it would be with his wife.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

The guests had arrived, and the instrumental wedding music was playing.

Aiden headed to the gazebo to wait for his bride, with his son and friends by his side. Jake was getting right to work at helping to seat the guests that were still arriving. Aiden couldn't believe it, but as they pointed to which side they wanted to go, Jake led them over to that side where empty seats were. The dog was smart as hell and Aiden made a mental never to mock Casey over treating Jake like a human ever again.

Ten minutes later, the guests had all arrived. Jake then walked to the front and stood beside Casey, and then the wedding party began to walk down the aisle to "Canon in D" by Johann Pachelbel. Ciara was first, smiling and looking beautiful in her pretty purple lace maid of honor dress. Following her was Kayla, Jennifer, Carol, Abigail, and finally Claire in their silk purple bridesmaids' dresses. Next, Julie wheeled the twins down in a double stroller as Maddie tossed tulip petals down the aisle. Haiden gripped hard onto a little blue velvet box that contained their wedding bands.

The guests all awed almost as much as they had at the sight of Jake in a suit.

Aiden tried not to tear up. He had all three of his children at his wedding, and he was about to marry the woman of his dreams. Life couldn't get any better! He leaned down and took the box from Haiden. He kissed both babies' cheeks, and they smiled. Then Julie gave both twins a teething ring apiece to hold on to to keep them occupied. They were just starting to get teeth now. She wheeled them over next to hers and Doug's seats in the front row. Chairs had been taken out to accommodate the stroller.

Finally, while "Canon in D" was still playing, Doug and Hope appeared at the beginning of the aisle. Aiden really did tear up then. She looked so beautiful it took his breath away. And she was walking down the aisle to him to the song that had been playing when they had decided to give their relationship another chance. Though, technically that had been the Christmas version of this song, "Christmas Canon", but still…

Hope reached Aiden and the song ended, and Aiden nodded in thanks to Doug and took Hope's hands in his own as he faced her. "You are so beautiful," he whispered.

Hope smiled, tears in her own eyes. "And you're so handsome."

The ceremony began then. Doug gave Hope away when asked who gave Hope to be married. Then, Father Lewis read from the Bible and talked about how Hope and Aiden had first met.

"So, you can thank me for getting things going by forcing them to work together," he said.

The guests laughed politely, and Hope grinned.

"Even though I hated it at first!" she said.

"As did I!" Aiden agreed, causing more laughter from the guests.

"I knew they would be perfect for each other. They had some fallings out eventually, and they both did some things they shouldn't have. But they both did some soul searching, took a couple years apart, and then came back stronger for it. Everything good happens in God's perfect time," Father Lewis continued.

Hope and Aiden both nodded. Indeed it did. They were living proof.

Claire then sang a beautiful song for them that she had written for them as a wedding present. As she sang, Hope and Aiden lit a candle to symbolize their love for each other.

When the song was done, they both hugged Claire. Julie read 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 from the Bible, and then finally, it was time for the vows. They had chosen to do both the traditional and their self-written vows.

Aiden went first with his written self-written vows. "First off, I just want to say that I thank God every day for you. Most guys are lucky to get a second chance let alone a third chance. Hope, you are my everything. I'll never forgive myself for the reason we parted the first time. I really had no right to ask for a second chance then, but you gave me one anyway. Then I screwed that up as well. Maybe not as much as I did the first time, but I still lied, and treated you badly. I didn't deserve you then, and frankly, I don't feel I deserve you now. But I'm a sucker for punishment. You see, I love you so much that I couldn't give up. I knew the best thing to do would be to let you live your life in peace. But when I came back to Salem and saw you, I knew that I wasn't able to walk away without fighting for you. My heart wants what it wants and it wanted you, and will always want you. Hope, you're the light in my darkness. I know it is so clichéd to say, but you really do make me want to become a better man. In fact, I attribute changing my ways to you .Hurting you made me wake up and realize that I never wanted to be that man again. I want to be the kind of man you deserve, and I promise to spend all the remaining days of my life treating you like the goddess that you are. I love you, Baby. You're it for me. There is and never will be anyone else for me ever. You're all I want, and all I need besides our family. That will never change. I promise to spend the rest of my life making you as happy as you make me."

Hope had even more tears of joy in her eyes now. "Aiden, we've both made mistakes, but being with you was not one of them. After I thought Bo abandoned Ciara and me, I thought I'd never be able to move on and find love again. But then you came along and blew that theory right to hell. For a long time after the first time we parted ways, and even after the second time, I didn't want to admit that I had been happy with you. I would have denied it angrily to anyone who dared to suggest otherwise. But the truth was, I was _very_ happy with you. In fact, I was _deliriously_ happy with you. You taught me how to love again. You were my first love since Bo. Nothing can ever take that away from you or from us. When you came back after the first time, I fell for you again, and wanted to be with you, but I was scared. I was scared to lose you again, so I overreacted to finding out you lied to me. I fought you because I figured I'd be hurt worse if I stayed with you. I wasn't ready to trust you yet. Plus, everyone was telling me I should be with Rafe; that he was the safer option. So, I let you go and did what I thought I should do. I listened to my head before my heart. I listened to others instead of myself. But when you came back this most recent time, I was done fighting it. I couldn't do it anymore. Aiden, you and I have both made some pretty big mistakes on our life. There's no denying it on either of our parts. But you know what? None of it matters anymore. All that matters is that our love was strong enough to get us through those times even though it took some time to get through it. And this time, I know it's going to work. You know why?"

"Why?" Aiden asked, teary eyed.

"Because of this." She took his hand and place it over her heart. "My heart wants what it wants too, and it wants you. You make me _so_ happy. I feel your love for me and I know that it is just as strong as my love is for you. I was kidding myself to think I could ever live without you. My heart always comes back to you. And now we have two beautiful babies as proof of the love that we share. So it's time to forget the past and move on to our future because the future is what really counts—not the past. And as long as we have each other…" She smiled at Aiden as she held his hands in hers. "We can take on the world. And it makes me happiest knowing that we're going to take it on together. There is no man on this earth whom I'd rather have by my side for the rest of my life than you. I love you, Mr. Jennings. I always have and always will. Never forget that."

They were both almost crying as they then moved on to their traditional vows.

Hope slipped the white gold band on Aiden's left finger after saying her traditional vow. "With this ring, I thee wed."

When it was Aiden's turn, he took Hope's ring and repeated after Father Lewis. "With this ring, I thee wed." He slipped the white gold ring on Hope's ring finger.

Hope smiled. He had surprised her with hers. It had little tulips carved all around it.

"It is my pleasure to now introduce you two as Mr. and Mrs. Aiden Jennings! You may now kiss the bride!" Father Lewis announced.

Hope and Aiden both cried happy tears, and then Aiden dipped her down and kissed her more passionately than he had ever kissed her before.

Everyone cheered (Jake even barked), and Hope and Aiden held their hands high in the air, and laughed at Jake's barking and cheered along with their guests. It was one of the happiest moment in both their lives, and they both knew that this time it would be forever. There would be no more marriages for either one of them.

They then walked down the aisle as the photographer continued taking photos of them and the music started up again. The wedding parties followed close behind.

"You better be good to my baby girl time, or it's curtains for you. You got it?" Doug asked Aiden, clapping a hand over his shoulder.

"I promise you Sir, I will die before I ever hurt her again," Aiden said sincerely.

"Let's hope it never comes to that," Julie said with a smirk. She then hugged Aiden. "Welcome to the family…again."

"Thank you, Julie." Aiden kissed her cheek and hugged her in return.

"Congrats, Little Brother! You finally did it!" Carol draped an arm around Aiden's shoulders and kissed his cheek. "I'm proud of you! I wish you nothing but happiness."

"Thanks, Sis." Aiden hugged her, getting teary-eyed again. "I wish that for you too."

Chase and Aiden hugged then. "Congrats, Dad."

"Thanks, Son. I appreciate it!" Aiden said, clapping him on the back.

Chase then extended his hand to Hope. "You look beautiful. I know I'm not your choice of a step son, but I think you make an awesome stepmother even though you probably don't want to acknowledge that you are mine. I don't blame you."

Hope started at him for a brief moment, then her face softened, and she hugged him. "Ciara forgave you, and so do I. We're all different people now, and it's time to move on."

Chase nodded. "Thank you." His own eyes were teary.

"You look amazing. Like a princess from a fairytale!" Bridgette said to Hope in awe.

Hope hugged her. "Thank you, Sweetheart. You look lovely too in that pretty pink dress. Such a lady! Chase is lucky to have such a nice, beautiful girl like you."

Bridgette blushed. "Thank you. I'm lucky to have him as well."

Shortly after, they all hopped into their cars, and headed for their reception. They had found a building in the city whose owner rented the rooftop out for occasions like these. There were beautiful flowers all around the roof in pots, and long tables for all the guests to sit for dinner. There was even a space reserved for the DJ and a dance floor. The roof was pretty big, which surprised yet pleased both Hope and Aiden.

Dr. Davis had been at the wedding, but surprisingly, he hadn't come over to congratulate them yet. He of course was the first to arrive at the reception thought.

"I didn't want to interrupt when your family was around, but congratulations to you both!" he said to them when they arrived. He then hugged Hope. "Please, save a dance for me."

Hope smiled politely, wishing he would just go away. "Of course," she said to be polite.

Thankfully, he then took off for his seat after giving Aiden a quick congratulatory pat on the back. They had made sure he was seated several tables away from theirs.

Once all the guests had arrived, it was time for dinner, so they all sat down to eat, content for the time being.

 _ **~*came back to me*~**_

After their salads, mango chicken, mashed potatoes, buttered rolls, and green beans, it was time to cut the cake.

Hope and Aiden walked over to the white chocolate frosting covered red velvet three-tiered cake and cut it together with Aiden's had on top of Hopes. The bride and groom on top was made to look just like them.

Everyone cheered when they fed each other a slice.

Hope smashed some into Aiden's face as everyone laughed, and he returned the favor, making them laugh some more.

Then Hope kissed Aiden, and they kissed off of each other's mouths what they could.

However, Jake got loose, and jumped up on Hope and licked off the remaining frosting.

"You're so cleaning your mouth before I kiss you again!" Aiden joked as everyone laughed.

But then Jake took his turn at licking Aiden's mouth.

Everyone laughed even harder.

Casey blushed, gently scolded Jake, and apologized to them as he collected Jake.

A caterer brought them both a hand sanitizer wipe, which Hope and Aiden both thanked the caterer for and happily used.

They then sat down, and the speeches began while the caterers took care of passing the cake and ice cream around to them.

Chase went first as the best man. "My dad is the most loving man I could ever ask to be my father. I never had any doubt that he loves me. He cares about me more than himself sometimes, and I know that he loves Hope so so much. She is his world and even when they weren't together all he could ever talk about was how perfect she was and how much he loved her. I've never in my life heard him talk badly about her. She is it for him. He's never wanted or loved anyone as much as he wants and loves her, and I can see why." Chase turned to Hope. "You're a very forgiving woman, even if it takes you a while. You've forgiven me even though I never deserved to be forgiven. You are the perfect mother to my siblings, and you make my dad happier than anyone else will ever make him. So thank you, Hope. I know you'll treat my dad with the love and respect he deserves and love him as much as he loves you."

"I do!" Hope said, tears in her eyes. "And I will."

Chase smiled at her, and held out his Champaign glass. "Welcome to the family."

"Thank you!" Hope said, even tearier eyed.

They all toasted and drank up.

Ciara was next. "I'll admit, I wasn't always Aiden's biggest fan, but after seeing how well he treats my mother now, and how good of a father he is to the twins and to Chase, I know my mom made the right decision. Aiden, you were the first man my mother fell in love with after my dad, and you're the only man who never cheated on her. I guess that has to count for something, right?"

Aiden smiled.

"And you were a good substitute dad to me when I thought my dad had abandoned my mother and me. I know I always used to give Rafe all the credit, but in reality, you were more of a father to me than he was even. If you tell anyone I said this later, I'll very much deny it, but you made me feel like I was worthy of a father again, and that it wasn't my fault that my dad left me. You made me realize that I was worthy and capable of having a father love me even if you weren't my blood father. So thank you for that. I really do wish you and my mom a very happy life. My mom deserves a happy life, and I know you can give it to her. That's all." Ciara sat down.

Hope got up and ran over to hug her. "Thank you, Baby,"

Ciara smiled. "You're welcome, Mom."

Doug and Julie gave a sweet joint speech welcoming Aiden to the family, and then Carol gave a touching one including embarrassing childhood stories about growing up with Aiden. They got quite a few laughs. Aiden blushed, but hugged his sister nonetheless when she said he deserved all the happiness that he got and that she loved him more than words can express no matter how much she teased him.

Shawn gave a quick speech similar to Ciara's about not accepting Aiden at first, but now seeing how good he was for his mother and welcoming him to the family.

Then, after the cake and ice cream had been consumed and the speeches were all done, it was time for the dancing.

Aiden of course had the first dance with Hope. They danced to Taylor Swift's "This Love" sung by Claire. Claire had picked out the song just for them and felt it was perfect for them with their history. And as Hope and Aiden danced to the song and stared into each other's eyes, they knew that Claire was right. The song was perfect for them. They kissed.

When the song was over, Hope was going to dance with her father, but Aiden stopped her. "First I need to give you my wedding present to you first."

Hope smiled. "You don't need to give me a present. Giving me you is more than enough!"

Aiden smiled too. "I appreciate that, but I think you'll like this one." He winked at her.

Just then, the crowd gasped.

Hope looked to see what everyone was looking at, and her mouth dropped open when she saw none other than Bon Jovi walk in.

"Hello! I'm Jon Bon Jovi. I heard you're a big fan of me and my band!" Jon said, extending his hand to her.

"I am!" Hope said, shocked.

"Would it be all right with you if my band and I sang a couple of songs for you?" Jon asked her.

"That would be fantastic! Thank you so much!" Hope said.

"We have to be on the road very shorty to continue on our tour, but your husband is friends with a friend of my entertainment lawyer, and he was able to pull some strings for you. Your husband really loves you. We'll only be able to sing four songs, and it has to be to instrumental tracks, but it will be us singing now—not recorded—and the instrumental tracks are of us playing, so no big deal, right? It's just that we're in a big hurry, and this helps us save time," Jon explained.

"Trust me, I am just happy to have you here!" Hope said, ecstatic.

Jon laughed. "And we're happy to be here." He nodded toward his band members. "Let's do this!" He then walked to the stage, where the hired DJ quickly made room for them. The amps were set up and the microphones and speakers were ready.

Hope and Aiden then danced together as Bon Jovi sang their hit "I'll Be There for You", which also fit their history. When it was over, Hope hugged and kissed Aiden. "Thank you _so_ much! This means the world to me! How? How did you do this?"

"As Jon said, I called an entertainment lawyer friend of mine to see if he happened to know Bon Jovi's entertainment lawyer, and what do you know? He knew someone who did." Aiden grinned. He then stroked her cheek. "I'm so happy I could do this for you, Baby. When you told me how much you loved them and would love for them to play at our wedding, I knew I had to make it happen for you."

Hope sobbed with joy, and kissed him hard. "I love you, Mr. Jennings."

"And I love you, Mrs. Jennings," Aiden said to her with a smile as he gently stroked her hair.

Hope smiled too. "I love the sound of that."

Aiden grinned. "Me too."

"May I please cut in now?" Doug asked.

Aiden bowed. "But of course!"

Doug smiled. "Thank you." He then danced with a smiling Hope as Bon Jovi began to sing "Always". It was a weird choice for a father and daughter to dance to, but Hope didn't care since it was Bon Jovi!

"So Aiden really makes you happy, huh?" Doug asked.

Hope nodded. "So happy, Daddy! He's a changed man now."

"Well, at least he never cheated on you. It's more than I can say for your other husbands. Though Bo was perfect for you, I know. But I also know that Aiden is too," Doug said. "Just as long as he continues being this changed man."

"He will Daddy, I promise!" Hope said.

"That's all I can ask for then—a man who loves you and treats you right and makes you happy," Doug said.

They continued to dance, and when the song was over, Doug kissed Hope's cheek, and left her to dance with Aiden again.

Bon Jovi sang "It's My Life" and "Living on a Prayer", and then after getting some pictures with Hope and then with her and Aiden and the rest of the wedding party, they left.

"This has been the best reception ever!" Hope said.

Aiden laughed. "I'm glad you liked it."

"May I cut in?" Dr. Davis then asked once the DJ had started playing another ballad. This one was Colby Caillat's "Bubbly."

Aiden hesitated, as did Hope, but Hope didn't want to be rude.

"Sure," she said with a fake smile.

"I'll be right over there," Aiden said, giving Hope a "call if you need me" look.

Marshall didn't waste any time. As soon as Aiden was out of earshot, he turned to Hope. "So badly I wanted to stand up and object at the wedding, but I didn't want to embarrass you. You know, it's not too late if you want to run away with me. We can go anywhere you'd like. Trust me, I have enough money to take care of both of us for life!"

Hope laughed. "Okay, sure," she said, only joking of course.

Marshall's expression turned serious then. "I'm serious, Hope. What do you want with a man who almost got you killed? He's a nice man, sure. But He could never make you as happy as I could. You're so beautiful, and have a good head on your shoulders. I know I've just met you not that long ago, but Hope, I think I'm in love with you," he said.

Hope gently pushed him away. "I'm sorry, but I do not return the feelings. And I think it takes some nerve to come to my wedding with my husband just over there, and try to hit on me. Please leave." Hope felt incredibly uncomfortable now. Before Marshall could react, Hope dashed off to be with Aiden, holding him close, and wanting to feel protected by his arms, which she did.

"What's wrong? What did he say to you?" Aiden asked, suddenly angry.

"He tried to hit on me and get me to run away with him. He said he could make me happier than you could," Hope said. "I told him to leave."

Aiden was going to go after him, but he had already left in the elevator.

"Please, just stay with me. Don't cause a scene on our wedding day. He's gone," Hope said, holding Aiden back from going after him.

"Yeah, well, he better not ever step foot in my office again, or there will be hell to pay," Aiden said angrily.

Hope kissed Aiden then, and led him back onto the dance floor. She just wanted to forget about Marshall Davis and concentrate on her new husband.

Aiden held her close, and let it go for her sake. But it Marshall ever tried to mess with Hope again, he would regret the day he was born. Aiden would see to it.


	87. S4E12

_**This Love…**_

 _ **Season 4 Epsiode 12: The Power of Love**_

Once it was almost time for the reception to end, all the single men gathered together and Hope sat in a chair as Aiden took the guarder off her leg. He then flung it into the crowd, and Casey caught it. Actually, it was Jake who had leaped into the air and caught it. He then handed it off to Casey, via his jowls of course.

"Yes!" Casey said, looking pleased with himself.

"You only got it because you cheated," Lucas grumbled. "And I swear that dog pushed me out of the way—hard!" Lucas grumbled as he rubbed his sore side from where the dog had run into him.

Casey grinned. "I didn't ask him to catch it for me. Maybe if you had a dog, you'd have had a better chance."

Lucas rolled his eyes. Not that it mattered anyway, he figured. He loved Amanda, but he wasn't anywhere near ready for marriage with her. He had only been dating her for about a month.

Hope then had all the single woman line up. She turned her back and flung the bouquet over her shoulder without looking.

Carol, despite being unmarried, hadn't gotten into the line. She had stayed seated in a chair along the wall off the roof. However, it didn't stop the bouquet from flying over the single women trying to no avail to snatch it. The bouquet instead landed right in Carol's lap.

"Um, I wasn't trying to get this," she said with a blush.

Hope turned around and smirked at her, an eyebrow raised. "It doesn't matter. The bouquet chose you. You're the next to be married."

"Not if I can help it," Carol muttered. She tossed the bouquet to Ciara. "You're her daughter. _You_ keep it!"

Ciara smirked. "Thanks." She then turned to her mother. "I can press these and put them in your wedding album for you."

Hope's eyes lit up. "I'd love that! Thank you."

Soon after, Hope and Aiden thanked everyone for coming, hugged and kissed their loved ones goodbye (including the twins, which pained them to part with), and then headed out to the white limo that Carol had rented for them, complete with the just married sign in the back. Carol had skipped the tin cans tied to the back. It seemed cheesy and even a little bit dangerous to her. It always had.

As Hope and Aiden headed out, the bridesmaids, maid of honor, best man, and groomsmen, as well as Julie and Doug blew bubbles at them. It was a much cheaper and less cleanup than throwing rice would have been.

Hope and Aiden laughed, then, waving and bidding everyone ado, they got into the limo.

The privacy window was already up. The driver knew where they wanted to go. As soon as the doors were closed, Aiden kissed Hope passionately. "I love you, Mrs. Jennings."

Hope having hungrily kissed him back, his face in her hands, grinned, and nuzzled her nose against his before resting her forehead against his. "I love you too, Mr. Jennings." She said back against her seat and let out a sigh of happiness. "I'm so happy to finally be your wife again."

"I'm so happy to _have_ you as my wife again. There came a day when I never thought it would happen. I promise you, I'm going to do it right this time. I'm not going to be a fool again by acting like a crazy lunatic," Aiden said as he put an arm around her.

Hope happily rested her head against his shoulder. "I know you won't," she said with a smile. She looked up at him. "I'm so excited for Bora Bora."

Aiden nodded. "Believe me, Baby, I am too." He then grinned mischievously. "And I'm super excited about tonight."

Hope raise an eyebrow, hiding a smirk. "And why would that be, Mr. Jennings?"

"Because now we're going to have a _real_ wedding night. The one you deserve."

Hope lovingly kissed him on the lips in reply. It was a perfect answer from him as far as she was concerned. And she knew that he would make good on his promise this time.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

"Did you like the wedding?" Lucas asked Amanda.

Amanda smiled. "I did. It was very beautiful. I hope my wedding is as beautiful as that one day. I know I've already been married once, but I still want another big wedding once I get married again. I'm just sorry I didn't catch the bouquet."

Lucas smiled at her and hugged her close. "We've only been dating for a month. Don't you think it's a little early to be thinking about that?"

She grinned. "I suppose. I guess I'm just over eager. It's been a long time since I've had a man like you in my life, Lucas. I never thought I'd find love again, and then I met you."

Lucas gently stroked her hair. "I never thought I'd fall in love again after my ex Adrienne left me. I'm so lucky to have found _you_."

Amanda kissed him. "And I'm lucky to be found," she said with a happy smile.

"I know we just had a huge lunch a couple hour ago, but what do you say we take Liz out mini golfing, and then have dinner together?" Lucas suggested. "I'd love to get to know her better. She seems like such a wonderful kid."

Amanda grinned. "I'd like that. She is supposed to be studying, but I guess she's had long enough to study."

"She sure studies a lot for a fifth grader," Lucas noted.

"Well, it's the end of the year. Her grades are decent, but I want to make sure they stay that way. I just don't ever want her to be held back a year," Amanda replied. "In fact, why don't we skip the golfing and go to the mall? Then we can pick her up for dinner after. Her birthday is next week and I want to go shopping for her." Amanda took his hand and started to lead him toward the elevator to take them from the roof to street level.

Lucas nodded. "All right." It seemed like a fair compromise, though he still thought Amanda worked the poor thing too hard. But she was Liz's mother, and Lucas figured she knew her best, and knew how much she did and did not need to study. So he left it at that.

 _ **~*came back to me*~**_

Hope laughed as Aiden (after making her wait outside the room while he unlocked and opened the door) lifted her up and carried her over the threshold.

"You and your traditions and superstitions," she said with a grin.

He kissed her lovingly on the lips before carefully depositing her onto the bed. "Says the woman who had something new, blue, old, and borrowed to walk down the aisle with." He smirked.

She smirked too. "Touché."

"Did you know that this is the same room we had when we first made love?" Aiden asked her.

Hope raised an eyebrow at him. "How on earth did you remember that?"

"I remember everything about our relationship, Hope. Not only the bad, but the good. I'd never forget a single detail about the day we made love for the first time. You completed my heart's desires that day. Well, that and today when you remarried me," Aiden said truthfully.

Hope stood up, and took him into her arms. "And you complete every one of my heart's desires. I'm not going to lie. A part of me will always love Bo. He was my first love and that is something you never lose even to death. But you," she gently stroked Aiden's cheek. "You're the second hit of lighting. Most people are lucky if they find one true love in their life. I was lucky enough to find two."

"And you're my one true love. I loved Meredith at one time, but it was never the kind of love you and I share. Aside from Chase, nothing good came from our marriage. I honestly don't know why I ever married her. I know, that sounds horrible to say." Aiden blushed.

Hope smiled. "It's okay. Honestly, I never should have married Rafe. Our relationship was based on what other people told me to do. Bo gave him to me, so I felt compelled to be with Rafe because it was what Bo wanted. When Rafe cheated, I wanted to leave him, but then people talked me into it. They told me how good he was for me. It kind of made me feel like my own feelings didn't matter, and that I was being unreasonable. Then it was brought up again that it was what Bo wanted, and I gave in. Of course, I'm not one to judge seeing as I eventually cheated on him with you. But, as childish as this will sound, he cheated before I ever did! He broke off our engagement just because I wasn't ready to marry yet. He didn't listen to me when I tried to talk to him. Instead, he slept with his ex-wife. Whether he was grieving me or not, the fact was he dumped me just because I wasn't ready to get married when he was, and he slept with another woman instead of fighting for me right away. At least with you, everything you did, you did out of your love for me. You never ever cheated on me even when we were at our worst."

Aiden gently stroked her hair. "That's because you're my heart, Hope. I only have one heart and you're it. Why settle for a pacemaker when my heart is standing right in front of me?"

Hope too his hand and kissed his palm before placing it against her own heart. "And you're _my_ heart. And this is something I know without having to be told. I know it without approval of anyone else and without Bo giving you to me." She grinned. "I'm happiest when I'm allowed to make my own choices. You know that better than anyone. You've always let me make my own choices."

"Except when I blackmailed you, but that wasn't me. We both know that. I was just crazy with love for you. But know this, Baby, I never would have followed through with my blackmail. I was only bluffing to keep you."

Hope smiled. "I know." She then started to unbutton his shirt. "But I don't want to talk about the past. I don't want to talk about Bo, and I especially don't wanna walk about Rafe. I want to talk about you, me, and our love for each other, cuz right now, nothing else matters."

Aiden's eyes lowered with love for her. "Nothing else matters," he agreed before pulling her in for a soft, yet sensual kiss, and then beginning to undress her as well.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

"Ugh! I'm beat. These shoes are killing my feet," Carol said as she sat down on the couch at hers and Chase's condo and took off her high heels. She snorted. "I rhymed."

Casey smiled, and sat down next to her. "So apparently we're going to be the next ones getting married." He gently brought her feet onto his lap and began massaging her right foot.

Carol sighed. "I don't believe in all that silly nonsense. Besides, I didn't catch the bouquet. It accidentally fell into my lap."

"It's destiny. Don't try to deny it," Casey teased with a giant grin on his face. He moved on to massaging her left foot.

"Casey, you promised no pressuring me," Carol reminded him, sounding a little weary.

"I know, I know. I'm sorry," Casey apologized.

Carol grinned. "Anyway, it was Jake who caught the guarder; not you. Maybe there is a marriage in his future!" she teased.

Casey shook his head. "No way! The only girl dog he really associates with is Fifi, a white standard poodle he sees from time to time at the dog park. I think she's snooty. She only drinks Evian water poured straight from a water bottle into her bowl. She literally has to see her owner pour it, or she won't drink it. And she only poops in the designated areas. What dog is that perfect?"

Carol laughed. "You're right. She sounds like a total snob. Jake can do way better."

"I don't think I'll ever find a nice lady dog good enough for my Jakey," Casey said, gently patting Jake's head. Jake had just come back from drinking his water.

Carol laughed. "Spoken like a true father. So, what do you want to do tonight? Dinner and a movie maybe?"

Casey sighed. "Would you mind if we stay home tonight? As a surprise to Aiden and Hope, my crew and I are starting on their new home a little bit early. We start tomorrow. I'd like to at least have the framework done by the time they come back from their honeymoon."

"Aw, that's so sweet of you!" Carol repositioned herself so that she could lean over and kiss his cheek. "Why don't we order in and stay in bed the rest of the night watching movies and pigging out instead then? I'm pooped anyway."

Casey kissed her cheek. "That sounds like Heaven. Will Chase and Bridgette be joining us?"

"Kinky!" Carol teased. "And sick."

Casey playfully pushed her. "Stop! You know what I mean."

Carol laughed. "Chase said he will probably be staying at Bridgette's. He practically lives there these past couple of weeks. I hardly see him anymore."

"Well, it's good to see him happy," Casey replied.

Carol nodded. "Yeah," she said with a smile, "it is."

"I'll go bring us something back. That way we won't have to bother with a delivery charge. What are you hungry for?" he asked her.

"Pete's?" she asked.

"The works minus the anchovies?" he asked her.

"And some Coke?" she asked. "Ooh, and garlic knots!"

He laughed. "You animal! After that huge lunch we had at the reception?"

She pouted. "I finished eating three hours ago. I'm hungry again."

"All right, all right." He kissed her cheek. "I'll probably stop at the doggy bakery on the way home to get Jake a little something too."

"All right. Jake and I will be waiting for you." Carol pat Jake's head as she stayed in her spot on the couch. Jake had taken Casey's spot. "I'll even walk Jake in a minute."

Casey and Carol kissed each other's cheeks.

"Thanks, Hon. You're the best!" Casey said.

Carol smiled. "I know!"

"I won't be long," Casey promised with a smile before leaving.

Carol sighed happily when he was gone. She then got up, took Jake out potty, and then came back and made her way to the bathroom. Before Casey got back, she wanted to take a nice warm bubble bath to sooth her aching muscles, and to change out of her dress and into her much more comfortable pajamas.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

Hope and Aiden clung to each other as they made love. It was less intense as their first wedding night had been, but it was still filled with all the passion and love they held in their hearts for each other. And as he made love to her, Aiden silently vowed to never, ever hurt her again. He was lucky enough to get this third chance from her. There was no way he was going to blow it this time.

Hope trusted Aiden completely. She moaned as he brought her closer to the edge. She loved him so much she felt her heart would burst, and she could feel his love for her emanating from his soul. The way he looked at her, the way he touched her, the way he made love to her, it all showed how much he loved her. In fact, she felt even more love from him than she ever had before. She had no doubt in her mind that Aiden loved her and always had, and she knew now that she had never fully stopped loving him either, despite what she might have said or done in the past.

When it was over, they clung to each other as if each other was the only life raft keeping them afloat, and in some ways, they really were.

Hope kissed his chest before collapsing back down onto her back and smiling up at the ceiling out of breath. She then looked at him with a mischievous grin. "I never thought it could any better with you, but that, Mr. Jennings, was even better than all of our other times."

Aiden grinned at her. "It's better now that we're married."

"It doesn't logically make sense. I mean, making love is making love, married or not. But, I think you're right." She propped herself up on her elbow and faced him. "Maybe the fact that it's more moral makes it more enjoyable."

Aiden nodded. "Maybe." He grinned. "That and the fact that I'm just amazing in bed."

Hope laughed. "I can't argue with that!"

He pulled her close and kissed her lovingly on the lips. "As are you, Mrs. Jennings."

She kissed him again. "Mm… Mrs. Jennings—I love the sound of that!"

Aiden's eyes lowered with love for her. "Mm… Me too, Baby. Me too."

"I know I should take a shower, but I'm too lazy," Hope said with a yawn and a stretch. It's been a long day."

"Well, the bathroom has a hot tub. Wanna take a soak together?" Aiden asked her.

Hope grinned big. "Yes!"

Aiden kissed her. "I'll go run the water."

Hope bit her bottom lip and smiled as she watched him walk into the bathroom still naked. She was tired, but she certainly wasn't done with him yet!

She then got up and grabbed her cell phone, and dialed up Shawn's number.

He picked up on the third ring. "Hey, Mom. Shouldn't you be enjoying your wedding night?" He smirked. "Okay, not a picture I want in my head."

Hope laughed. "I am. I just wanted to call and make sure the twins are okay. I hate leaving them. Are they in bed yet?"

"Ciara is changing them right now. I was helping her until I got interrupted by your phone call. By the way, they both said their first word. Maddie said Shawn, and Haiden said Ciara. I just thought I'd let you know," Shawn said nonchalantly.

"Shawn Douglass Brady, don't even joke like that! They are going to both say Mama as their first word, and I won't miss it when they do!" Hope said with a smile.

"It's gonna be Dada!" Aiden said, walking into the room.

Hope stuck her tongue out at him playfully. "Well, I'll let you go. I just wanted to call. I missed my babies."

"How are you ever going to survive a week without them?" Shawn asked.

"I know, right? I'll manage I suppose," Hope said. As she glanced at Aiden who was still naked, she didn't doubt she could find ways to distract herself. "Well, thank you for watching them. Please thank Ciara too. Aiden and I will be home by lunchtime tomorrow. Maybe we can all spend the day together before he and I leave for our honeymoon."

"Yeah, maybe!" Shawn agreed. "I better get back now. I can hear Ciara griping."

Hope laughed. "All right. Tell the twins I love them, and say goodnight to them. Aiden does too." Aiden had mouthed to her to say the same from him.

"What are Ciara and I, chopped liver?" Shawn teased.

"And I love you both too. That goes without saying. Goodnight, Baby. Tell Ciara I said I love her and hope she has a good night too."

"I will. Goodnight, Mom. We love you too. Bye."

Hope smiled. "Bye, Honey." She hung up the phone.

Aiden then came over, took it from her, and gently set it on the nightstand. He then picked her up to carry her to the bathroom and she laughed. "Your hot tub awaits, my love."

She smiled. "And so does my handsome prince."

Aiden's eyes lowered with love for her, and they kissed all the way to the hot tub.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

"It was such a lovely wedding, wasn't it?" Bridgette said dreamily. "Just like a fairytale!" She had worn a purple streak in her hair even though she wasn't in the wedding. She wanted it to match the bridesmaids' dresses.

"It really was nice. I know my dad is over the moon. He loves Hope like you can't even imagine," Chase said as he plopped down onto the overstuffed couch and took off his shoes. They had picked up some Chinese takeout on the way home for dinner.

"I hope one day some man loves me as much as your dad loves Hope," Bridgette said dreamily. She was too excited to sit down. She loved weddings! And it took her mind off the rape. At least for now. She jumped as she felt Chase hug her from behind and let out a little scream.

"I'm sorry! It's just me. I wasn't thinking. I apologize," Chase said, blushing.

She blushed. "No, I'm sorry. You never have to apologize for hugging me. I'm just still a little on edge, but I'll get past this. I'm not going to let that scum ruin my life."

"I'm surprised you don't find me scum too for being a rapist," Chase said, his tone sullen. "I wouldn't blame you if you did."

Bridgette turned to face him. "The difference between you and Max is, you terribly regret what you did. Max on the other hand, is still blaming me."

"That's because he is the scum of the earth who knows he is going to rot in prison. He did the crime, now he's angry that he isn't as invincible as he thought he was. He has to pay the price for once in his life," Chase said.

"Tracey wants me back. Would you believe that it's in the contract that if either of them does a serious crime that lands them in jail, they automatically lose all their rights to the club? It's all Tracey's now. She says whenever I'm ready, I'll always have a place there as a dancer. She is thinking about hiring someone else to manage the girls, but for now, she is looking after both the male and the women dancers," Bridgette explained.

Chase looked at her in surprise. "Are you actually considering going back?"

Bridgette shook her head. "No. I'm tired of parading my body around for disgusting perverts. I really like my waitressing job. I also applied to work at that new clothing boutique in the mall, Starla's. I love her clothes. They are like a punk rock style. They're really cool!"

Chase smiled big, and hugged her tightly. "I'm glad. I would feel much better with you working at one of those places instead of Neverland. I haven't told my dad yet, but I was actually thinking of going back to school. It might be nice to be a lawyer like him. At first I was totally opposed to it, but now it doesn't seem too bad. I can help put criminals like Max in jail." Chase grinned. "I could even work against my dad one day. He's a defense lawyer. I want to be a prosecuting attorney."

Bridgette's eyes lit up. "Chase! That's fantastic! I know either way your dad will be _so_ proud of you! I know I am." She pulled him close and kissed him.

He kissed her back and grinned. "You really think so?"

Bridgette nodded. "I know so!"

"Maybe I'll take to him about it when he gets back from his honeymoon. He can give me tips on the process to becoming a lawyer," Chase reasoned.

Bridgette nodded. "For sure!"

They got into their pajamas then, and then dug into their Chinese food while watching Netflix in bed. It was a romantic comedy.

Chase remembered then what she had said earlier before he had accidentally startled her. "Bridge?" he asked quietly.

"Yes, Chase?" She smiled at him.

"About what you said earlier, about hoping one day a man will love you as much as my dad loves Hope. Well, I think that could be me. I love you. Of course my dad has been in love with Hope longer. He knew her longer. But I have no doubt in my mind that you and I could be like them one day," Chase said to her.

Bridgette had happy tears in her eyes. "Oh, Chase. That is the sweetest thing anyone has ever said to me! Do you really mean it?"

Chase nodded. "With all my heart."

Bridgette kissed him passionately then, and he in turn kissed her back just as passionately.

A moment later, the movie was forgotten as their hands roamed each other's body. But just when he started to unbutton her pajama top, she took his hand and stopped him. "Chase, I'm sorry. I thought I was ready for this, but I'm not."

Chase re-buttoned the button he had undone. "No worries." He kissed her cheek. "You take as long as you need."

"Are you angry?" Bridgette almost looked like she was about to cry.

Chase took her hand in his and kissed it. "Never. You're more than worth the wait!" He smiled at her and gently stroked her cheek.

Bridgette kissed his cheek, and then held his hand. "That's what makes you different from Max," she said with a smile. She then went back to her Chinese food and watching the movie.

Chase looked at her and smiled too. Then he grabbed the orange chicken container and continued eating his food and watching the movie as well, happy and content even without having been able to make love to her.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

After their hot tub, they dried off and wrapped themselves in the plush, white terrycloth bath robes the Inn provided.

"I'm hungry," Hope said to Aiden as she sat on the bed and turned the TV on, flipping the channels to try to find something good.

"What would you like? We can order room service." Aiden grabbed the menu and handed it to her for her to look over.

Hope silently read down the list. She then looked at Aiden. "I'm in the mood for tacos, but they don't have any."

Aiden kissed her. "If my wife wants tacos, then she's going to get tacos." He lovingly kissed her, then got up to dress.

"You don't have to go get me some, my love. I can make do with bacon and eggs maybe." Hope felt bad making him go out just for her.

"Don't worry about it. You pick us a good movie to watch and I'll be back with your tacos. Is Taco Bell okay?" Aiden asked. There was one only few miles down the road.

Hope smiled. "Perfect!"

"Beef tacos with mild sauce?" Aiden asked.

Hope smiled. "Please. And maybe those Cinnabon things they sell? Oh, and no ice in my Coke please. It makes it too watery." Hope smiled.

Aiden nodded. "Of course my love."

"Come here," Hope ordered.

Aiden walked over to him and she pulled him down for a kiss. "Hurry back," she purred into his ear. "I'm hungry for more than just tacos."

He moaned. "I'll be as quick as I can."

"Just be safe on the road." She kissed his cheek.

"I will be," he promised. He kissed her and moaned. If he didn't leave right then, he'd never get himself to leave.

He then went to get their dinner, and Hope got up off the bed to go get ready for him.

 _ **~*came back to me*~**_

Aiden was back a half hour later, bearing both their dinner and a bouquet of tulips and roses mixed in a variety of pretty spring colors. It was already in a pretty heart-shaped vase of water.

"Hope, I'm back!" He set the vase in the middle of the coffee table.

"On the television was Netflix. Hope had the new Adam Sandler movie set to watch. Aiden thought it was nice that the Salem Inn now provided Netflix for only a five dollar additional charge.

Hope came out a moment later, and Aiden nearly took her right then and there on the floor. Her hair was wavy, her makeup was perfect (not that she needed any in his opinion), and she was wearing nothing but a very small and very tight purple teddy see-thru in all the right places.

Hope smirked at the expression on his face. "Do you like?"

"Do I like? Baby, I love!" Aiden said to her.

She walked over to him. "Mm, good." She gently nibbled at his ear. "I see you got me flowers. Thank you. They're beautiful."

Aiden moaned. He set the food on the table. Dinner could wait. They could always reheat their food in the microwave if they had to.

"Not as beautiful as you. Do you mind if we put dinner on hold for a bit?" he asked her.

She nodded, and bit her bottom lip in a way that was so sexy, it was driving him crazy. "Sure," she purred. She then stroked his hair. "I'm only hungry for you right now, anyway."

Aiden moaned, then picked her up and carried her to bed, more than ready to devour her and have his dessert first.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

After their lovemaking, they finally ate their dinner, which surprisingly, was still warm enough. They talked about how perfect their wedding had been, and how the swans in the fountain had been a beautiful touch. They watched the movie, and laughed at all the same parts, for they had the same sense of humor as each other had. And then they made love again before Hope fell peacefully asleep in Aiden's arms.

Aiden followed into slumber soon after, but not until first staring lovingly at her and stroking her hair while he was reminded yet again how he was absolutely the luckiest man in the whole world to have her as his wife, and he knew that she felt the exact same way about having him as her husband.


	88. S4E13

_**This Love…**_

 _ **Season 4 Episode 13: One Love**_

Since flying to Bora, Bora would take so much time, and they would rather have the time to use on their honeymoon instead of wasting it on a plane, Hope and Aiden had decided to go to Jamaica instead. They were staying in a bungalow on the water in Whitehouse at the Sandal's resort. All the bungalows came together to form a heart. Aiden had found it online and when he had shown Hope online, she had fallen as in love with it as he had.

They had even been picked up at the airport by staff, and taken to the bungalow. Everyone that worked there was extremely friendly, and placed their bags in their room for them.

Aiden carried Hope over the threshold again, and she laughed. "You really don't need to keep doing this," she told him as he sat her down on the bed. The staff had already left.

"I want to," he murmured. "I love being reminded that you're my wife again."

Hope stood up and kissed him passionately, running her fingers through his hair. It was getting longish again, and she absolutely loved it that way. It was the way it was when they had first fallen in love. He still made her heart race just as she still made his heart race.

She then smiled as she looked down at the glass paneled floor and saw some tropical fish swim by. "This place is amazing! I'm so glad you found it."

Aiden nodded. "Me too. And don't worry, we'll get to Bora, Bora one day when we have more time. Things at the office are just so busy lately."

Hope nodded. "Trust me, I know. Things are pretty wild at the station lately too. Besides, I don't want to stay away from the twins too long. I know Shawn was only kidding, but I really don't want to miss the twins' first words."

"We won't, my Love." He placed his hands around her slim waist and kissed the top of her head. "I promise!"

Hope smiled at him and took his hand as she led him out to the deck to see their view. It was stunning. There was just enough of a cool breeze so that the hot weather wasn't stifling. The water was a beautiful turquoise blue and it went on for miles and miles. There were even two white lounge chairs to sit and enjoy the view from above, and two down below as well.

"Look at this!" Aiden pointed downward under the dock.

Hope looked, and smiled when she saw a comfy looking hammock made for two hanging just above the water with two fluffy pillows. "How romantic!" She walked over to him then and placed her arms around his waist. "So what do you want to do first, Mr. Jennings?"

"What do _you_ want to do, Mrs. Jennings?" Aiden asked her in return.

She thought about it for a moment. "Well, I'd like to test out the bed with you," she purred.

"I like your way of thinking!" he said with a grin.

"But first, I need my energy." She raised an eyebrow. "What do you say we go get some lunch and maybe go for a swim first?"

Aiden nodded. "And then we test the bed?" he asked hopefully with a mischievous grin.

Hope laughed. "No one will be able to drag me away from it…or you."

They kissed, and almost made it to bed after all, but then Hope's stomach growled, and they came to their senses.

Hand-in-hand and smiles on their faces, they went to explore and find a good place they could eat their lunch at.

 _ **~*came back to me*~**_

They had a lovely lunch by the water at a place called Neptune's. They got to eat right on the deck, and it was a very nice time.

They then headed back to their hotel and got into their swimwear. Aiden had decided to be fun and he wore white swim shorts with blue sail boats all over them. Hope, on the other hand had decided upon something a little bit sexier to wear for him since it was their honeymoon after all. It was a turquoise one piece with laces all down the sides. It was extremely low-cut had laces all down the center of the suit, stopping just above the crotch so as not to show too much. It also brought out the color of her eyes.

Aiden practically pounced on her when he saw her in it. "Can't we just skip the swimming?" he murmured, already tugging at the laces.

Hope placed her hand over his to stop him and smirked. "All in good time, my love," she purred into his ear. She wanted him to crave her for just a little while longer. After all, the more they craved each other, the more fun they would have later when they finally allowed themselves to give into their passion. She herself was craving him even with him in his silly swim trunks.

They walked out onto the deck and walked down the stairs that led them into the water.

"I still can't believe how beautiful this water is," Hope said as she and Aiden were submerged up to their shoulders in the warm, beautiful crystal turquoise water with the white sand at the bottom.

"It's beautiful, but honestly, nothing compares to your beauty, so it doesn't impress me as much as it might some people," Aiden said with a shrug.

Hope pulled him in for a passionate kiss. "You're always saying romantic stuff like that," she said, his jaw held gently between her thumb and index finger.

"I mean every word," Aiden said, his eyes lowered with love for her as they kissed again.

"I love you, Mr. Jennings. More than you could possibly know," she said to him, resting her forehead against his.

"And you know I love you," Aiden said, his eyes still lowered with love for her.

They kissed a little more, then finally began to swam, first holding hands as they swam, and then they broke free and swam at leisure, having fun racing each other and splashing the other. Hope then remembered her underwater camera and went back into the room and got it. She then jumped into the water, splashing Aiden.

"Thanks a lot!" he said, but grinned big as she took a picture of him.

He took a few shots of her, and then they took an under water selfie together. They even kissed under water, well, the best they could without getting mouthfuls of water.

When they were too tired to swim any longer, they got into the hammock and held each other in each other's arms.

Hope sighed happily. "This is the life! If I wouldn't miss the kids so much, I'd suggest we stay here forever."

"I'd be perfectly all right with that. I wonder if the kids would all be willing to move out here with us." Aiden joked.

"But then it wouldn't be as much fun with the kids with us, would it?" Hope teased.

Aiden laughed. "No, I suppose it wouldn't be. I don't think they'd much enjoy it either. We'd be in bed all the time."

"We could get them a bungalow far away from ours," Hope suggested.

"Or better yet, at another hotel entirely," Aiden said.

Hope laughed. "That's perfect!"

They laid in the hammock a little too long. It was so comfortable, and they were both tired from all the swimming. They ended up falling asleep in each other's arms with the gentle breeze to cool them and the sound of the waves to lull them to a peaceful sleep in the other's arms.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

They didn't end up waking up until six in the evening. Aiden was the first to wake up as he looked over at Hope who was still sleeping peacefully, her arm draped over his stomach and the sun hitting her hair in such a way that it made it shine. He smiled to himself thinking how she looked like a beautiful mermaid in her turquoise bathing suit and beautiful shining long, beach wave hair. He gently leaned down to kiss her lips, which he simply could not resist.

She moaned gently and stirred, then she looked up at him and smiled. "Hello, Mr. Jennings."

He smiled back. "Hello, Mrs. Jennings."

They kissed.

Hope sighed happily. "I feel like I've died and gone to Heaven. It's just so beautiful here."

"It's beautiful wherever you are," Aiden said to her, wrapping his arms around her.

She smiled. "I'll never have self esteem issues as long as I'm with you."

They kissed some more.

"I know this is going to sound crazy since we just ate and all, but after all that swimming, I'm hungry again," Hope confessed with a sheepish smile.

Aiden laughed as he glanced at his waterproof watch. "It's no surprise, really. It's after six. We slept through to dinner!"

Hope looked surprise. "Did we really? Wow! I guess I was more tired than I thought I was."

"Flights can do that to you. Plus, we got to bed so late last night," Aiden reasoned.

"So, where should we eat?" Hope sat up and stretched.

Aiden watched her and all he wanted to do was take her to bed. But he didn't want her to go hungry. Truthfully, he was a little hungry as well. "How about we order room service in and eat out here? It's such a beautiful night." He grinned mischievously at her. "And this way, we wouldn't have to go far to get to our bed afterwards."

Hope smiled. "I like the way you think, Mr. Jennings!"

So it was settled. They headed into their room and picked up the room service menu, then looked it over. When they had decided upon what they wanted to eat, Aiden called an ordered their meals. Then, they went back out to the deck to sit and look out at the water again while they waited for their food to arrive.

"I'd like to swim with the dolphins. I've never actually gotten to swim with them," Hope announced. She smiled at Aiden. "I used to be afraid of dolphins when I was really young, but now I love them. I don't even remember what changed my mind about them."

"Well then we'll have to book a dolphin swim now won't we?" Aiden asked with a grin.

Hope smiled. "You're so good to me."

"Nothing but the best for you, my love," Aiden said simply.

"How about you? Anywhere you'd like to go?" Hope asked him.

"Dunn's River Falls sounds nice. How about there?" Aiden asked.

Hope shrugged. "Works for me! If it makes you happy, it makes me happy."

They smiled at each other.

They talked a little bit more about what they wanted to do. They wanted to spend a day at the beach, they wanted to go boating and snorkeling as well.

When their food arrived, they ate on the lower deck as planned and enjoyed talking about their house that was soon going to be built. Of course they also talked about the twins and how big they were getting. They were soon going to be eight months old! It was hard to believe. Time just flew.

"Do you know that I've never had my monthly cycle again since the twins were born?" Hope asked Aiden. "I've officially started menopause, and Kayla says after a year has gone by, I'm in no danger of becoming pregnant again. So we don't have to worry about anymore slip ups." Hope grinned.

Aiden laughed. "That's good to know. I nearly had a stroke when you told me you were pregnant again! Thank God it was only a joke!"

Hope laughed too. "Trust me, I'd have been right on the gurney next to you if it were true!"

"What do you think the twins will be like when they get older? I hope they're kind and goodhearted," Aiden suddenly said.

Hope smiled. "I'm sure they will be. We'll raise them to be good people. They have a lot of people who love them and will be a good influence. We can even start going to church more regularly."

"And we'll put them in St. Luke's when they're old enough to go to school," Aiden added.

"Yes, but can we not grow them up so fast? I wish they could stay babies forever," Hope said dreamily. She wasn't ready to be an empty-nester again. Though, she knew it would be a long time before they left the house at least.

"I want them to be a little older so they don't run us ragged, but I'm not quite sure I'm ready to go through the teenage years again," Aiden quipped.

Hope laughed. "Believe me, neither am I. I love Ciara, but boy did she give me hell in her teenage years. Heck, from ten on up she gave me hell!"

Aiden laughed. "I believe it! She's a feisty one! But you wouldn't have her any other way."

Hope smiled. "No," she agreed. "I wouldn't."

They finished their dinner and dessert, and then called and had their assigned personal butler to take dirty dishes away.

"Do you want to go walk along the pier?" Aiden asked her.

Hope nodded and then they walked hand in hand around the heart-shaped pier that all the bungalows surrounded. Surprisingly, not many people were out and about. It was just the two of them and their love for each other.

"Do you want to sit in the hot tub and watch the sun set?" Hope asked as she continued to hold his hand. They were both still in their swimwear. Each bungalow had its own private hot tub built for two. It looked inviting.

Aiden kissed her hand. "All right. You hop in. I'll join you in a minute."

Hope smiled. "Okay." They kissed, and then she headed to their hot tub while Aiden headed back into the bungalow. He pulled out a few things from his suitcase. He wanted things to be perfect for his bride. He spend five minutes getting things ready in their room, and then he opened the curtain so that Hope could see their bedroom from the hot tub.

She gasped. He had candles lit all around, and red rose petals covering the bed with a trail on the floor leading out to the deck. He even lit a few candles on the deck then.

"Aiden, it's perfect," Hope said, touched.

Aiden slid into the tub with her. "No, _you're_ perfect."

Hope pulled him close and they kissed.

They then sat with Hope's back against his chest as they stared out into the beautiful turquoise water. It wasn't long after that that the sun set, and they kissed as the already beautiful blue sky turned even more beautiful with hues of purple, pink, orange, and yellow.

"I could lay like this forever," Hope said in a breathy voice as she stared into Aiden's eyes.

"Me to, My Love. Me too," he murmured, gently stroking her hair.

And they began to kiss, and soon, they couldn't hold back their desire for each other any longer. He got out of the tub, and took her hand to help her out. Then, he picked her up and carried her to the bed, gently laying her down on it, and never ceasing in his kisses. He loved her so much he felt his heart would surely burst!

They made love with the only light being from the candles and the moon. No words were spoken or needed other than a couple whispered I love yous.

They clung to each other afterwards, never wanting to let the other go. Then they took a shower together in the outdoor shower before slipping their suits back on and going for a midnight swim in the water just the two of them.

Finally, they ended up back in bed, sleeping peacefully in each other's arms, happier than either of them had ever been before.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

The rest of their honeymoon went by far too fast for either of their liking. They swam with the dolphins as Hope had wanted to do, and they also enjoyed going to Dunn Falls. They even went snorkeling, and checked out a rainforest where they got a chance to pay to feed a baby leopard.

Aiden thought his heart would burst with happiness again when he and Hope were swimming with the dolphins and she laughed like a kid as the dolphin gave her a ride across the water. And when she kissed the dolphin. Aiden was pretty sure he had fallen even more in love with her, if that were even possible. He had bought their pictures kissing the dolphins of course. He also bought the pictures of them feeding the baby leopards. Aiden was addicted to Hope's smile, and she was smiling beautiful in each and everyone of the pictures, so of course he knew he had to have them for not just memory's sake, but for beauty's sake as well.

They kissed under the waterfall. They even jumped on a water trampoline like children and were laughing hysterically as they repeatedly fell down from the movement of the water. It had been a memorable trip filled with lovemaking and memories that they knew they would never forget.

As they looked through some shops right before heading home, Hope saw a beautiful handcrafted necklace that she found stunning. It normally wasn't her style, but there was just something about it she loved. It had a silver chain with two silver dolphins that were kissing. There was an aquamarine jewel heart beneath them. Aiden brought it for her as a souvenir from their honeymoon. In turn, she surprised him with a beaded turquoise and sapphire blue beaded bracelet. The lighter blue represented the sky, and the darker blue was beaded to look like waves. Aiden agreed that though he didn't usually wear things like that, it would be nice to have it as a souvenir to remind him of their honeymoon. Not that he needed a reminder. Neither of them did. They both knew they would never forget this magical week they had spent together. And when they headed back home, they were both even more in love with each other than they ever were before.

Hope didn't regret marrying Aiden for a second, and Aiden vowed to himself to never ever make her regret it. But as Hope cuddled next to him on the plane, she knew she never would.


	89. S4E14

_**This Love…**_

 _ **Season 4 Episode 14: Don't Worry Be Happy**_

It had been two weeks since Hope and Aiden had returned from their honeymoon. Two blissful weeks of happiness. They loved being married, and were glad that their first marriage wasn't even thought of anymore. To them, this was the only marriage that counted.

Aiden was at work, and Hope was at home, bored. Lucas had taken the twins out for an outing. She had wanted to use the day to run some errands. She had run her errands, but the twins were still out with Lucas when she got back. Lucas had texted her that he had stopped at Will's. Arianna was there, and was having a blast playing with them. They were like her own living dolls, though of course she was old enough now to know to be gentle with them.

Hope was thinking about taking a bath while waiting for Aiden to come home, when her cell phone rang. The caller ID marked it as private. Julie always insisted on keeping her number listed as private for some reason. She was convinced that if you add your name to a number, you'd get telemarketers. Hope didn't think it mattered. Hope had insisted to her that people had a way of getting cell phone numbers no matter what, but Julie still insisted on a private number. Hope picked up. "Hey, Julie. What's up?"

But it wasn't Julie, much to Hope's dismay. "It's not Julie. It's Marshall. Please, don't hang up!"

Hope almost hung up anyway, but was too curious as to what he had to say. "Please, stop calling me, Marshall. It's not appropriate. I do not share your feelings, and I think it's best if we just cut all ties. I speak for my husband as well."

"You have every right to feel that way. But please, can we have one last lunch together? I just want to apologize face to face. I had a little bit too much to drink at your reception and I clearly wasn't in my right mind," Marshall apologized.

"I accept your apology, but I stand by us not having any more contact," Hope said briskly. Too much to drink or not, he clearly had feelings for her, and she was not going to feed into them.

"Please, Hope. We can just go somewhere simple like Pete's Pizza if you'd like. I couldn't live with myself if I didn't apologize in person. Apologizing over the phone for such a wrong just doesn't seem right, you know?"

Hope sighed. She knew she shouldn't even be considering his offer, but she really hadn't taken the time to have lunch. She had just figured she'd fix herself a sandwich at home and be done with it. But now she felt too lazy to make one. "All right. But this is the last thing we ever share together. Do I make myself clear?"

"Clear as glass. I'll see you in twenty?" he asked hopeful.

"I'll be there." Hope hung up without saying goodbye. She didn't mean to be rude, but he was starting to turn her off so badly. All she got from him now was pervert vibes.

With another sigh, she grabbed her purse and car keys, then headed out, not looking forward to this lunch, and asking herself why in the world she had agreed to it.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

"Thank you for letting me play with the twins. I get bored. I don't have many friends," Arianna confessed to her grandpa Lucas.

Lucas looked at her in surprise. "What about school friends? Don't you have any of those?"

Arianna shrugged. "No one really plays with me. The boys tease me, and the girls don't really say much to me."

"Well, the boys are just being boys. Boys aren't very nice sometimes. Some might even like you. Like as in think you're cute." Lucas smiled and winked at her.

"Then why do they tease me if they like me?" Arianna asked.

"Because boys are stupid and at seven, most of them don't know any other way to get a girl's attention," Lucas said simply.

Arianna giggled. "Boys _are_ stupid!"

Lucas laughed too. "Wait a little while, and I'm sure you'll change your mind. As for the girls, maybe they're just shy."

Arianna shook her head. "I think they just don't like me. They call me Teacher's Pet."

"You probably get better grades than they do and they're just jealous of you because of it. Girls can be stupid too. Not you of course, but some," Lucas assured her.

"I don't have things in common with them. Some like boy stuff like sports, and some like makeup. I just want to play with my dollies," Arianna said simply.

"Makeup? Really? At seven?" Lucas asked; shocked.

Arianna nodded. "They like pretty lipsticks, eye shadows, and nail polishes."

"Sheesh! Great Grandma Kate didn't allow Aunt Billie to wear makeup until she was thirteen. Come to think of it, none of the girls I knew at your age even knew what makeup was other than something their mommies liked to put on." Lucas shook his head. "Kids grow up too fast these days."

"Shelley Kurtz said I'm a baby for still playing with dollies," Arianna said.

"Well Shelley Kurtz is going to end up pregnant at fifteen with that attitude if she thinks dollies are too babyish for a seven-year-old," Lucas grumbled.

"Pregnant?" Arianna asked.

Lucas shook his head. "Never mind. Hey, my girlfriend Mandy has a daughter who is just a few years younger than you. Do you think you'd like to meet her? She is a really nice girl and I bet she would love to play with you."

"What's her name?" Arianna asked; intrigued.

"Her name is Elizabeth, but she likes people to call her Liz. She is ten," Lucas explained.

"Can I meet her soon?" Arianna asked with excitement.

"Sure! In fact, I'm supposed to go out with her and her mom tonight for dinner and a movie. I'm sure they wouldn't mind if you joined us. If it's okay with your mom and dad you can come with us. It's a Friday, so we don't have to worry about it being a school night."

"Awesome! I'll go ask daddy now!" Arianna then ran into Will's den, where he always went to do his writing. "Daddy, Daddy, can I go with Grandpa Lucas and his girlfriend for dinner and a movie? They have a new friend I can play with!"

Lucas peaked his head in. "Mandy's daughter is ten, and I'm sure she'd love to meet Arianna. The movie is PG, and we'll be back by ten."

"Well, it's a little late for you to be staying up, but it's not a school night, so if your mom is fine with it then so am I," Will said to her with a smile. "He was aware of his daughter's desperate need of a friend. Gabi was too, so he was sure she'd be all right with it as well.

After a call to Gabi, everything was set up and Arianna was so excited!

Lucas was excited too. He could hardly wait to introduce his granddaughter to Amanda. He just hoped she didn't think of him too old, him being a grandfather and all.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

Aiden was surprised when Tiffany, his secretary, announced that he had a visitor.

"Who is it? I don't remember there being any appointments at this time," Aiden buzzed back.

"It's your son. But if you want me to tell him to take a hike I will," Tiffany teased.

"Very funny. Send him on in." Aiden smiled. He was always happy when his son gave him a surprise visit, which didn't happen enough for his taste.

Chase came into his office and shut the door behind him. "I hope I'm not keeping you from anything. Sorry. I should have called first."

"Nonsense!" Aiden motioned to the seat in front of his desk. "Have a seat. I don't have my next meeting until an hour from now, and I just finished my lunch. What's up?"

"Well, I know you want me to be a lawyer, and I always told you no. But, lately I've been thinking that I _would_ like to be a lawyer after all. I was wondering how to go about becoming one," Chase announced.

Aiden smiled so hard his face hurt. "Do you have any idea how long I've waited for you to say that?" He was so happy his eyes were tearing up.

Chase smirked. "Don't get too excited, Dad. I want to work on the opposite side. I want to be a prosecuting attorney."

"That can work! We can become Jennings and Son. Now both sides of the law can be represented at our firm!" Aiden was excited now.

"Woah, Dad. You're getting way ahead of yourself. Don't I need like seven years of schooling first or something like that?" Chase asked with an eyebrow raised.

Aiden nodded. "Unfortunately because of your circumstances, you never got to go to college. So, yes, you're going to have to go for four years to get your bachelor's degree. After that, you're going to need to find a law school to apply to and get accepted. Once you get in, you will have to go for three years to earn your J. D or Juris Doctor. It would probably be a good idea to get a clerkship after that; like an internship with a law firm where you study under a licensed attorney. After that, you'll have to pass your bar exam. Then, you can finally join a law firm. Lucky for you, your father already owns one that will have a spot open for you!" Aiden grinned.

"I can get my Bachelor Degree at Salem U. Do you know of any good law schools?" Chase asked.

"Well, I went to The University of Oregon law school," Aiden informed him. "But if you preferred to go a little bit closer, Chicago has a fantastic law school. But let's get you through college first, and then we'll talk about it. You're late on applying, but very lucky for you, the Dean of Admissions happens to be a client of mine and he owes me a favor. Between that and the rolling admissions, I think I might be able to get you in so that you can start attending by August."

"That would be great, Dad, thanks!" Chase said happily. He really didn't want to wait to start until the following year.

"Don't worry about the cost. I'll pay in full. I'm sure Hope won't mind. I've been saving some money aside anyway in case you ever decided you did want to college," Aiden informed him.

"I plan on getting a job. I'll pay you back," Chase vowed.

Aiden shook his head. "No you won't. You can use it for text books and food instead." He grinned. "And of course your half of the rent at your and Carol's condo."

Chase nodded. "Thanks, Dad. I love you."

Aiden almost cried. That had made it all worth it to him. "I love you too, Son."

He got up and hugged his son. "I'm so proud of you for wanting to turn your life around!"

Chase smiled up at him. "I learned from example." He winked at Aiden, and then left.

As Aiden watched him leave, the happy tears slipped from his eyes.

 _ **~*came back to me*~**_

"Get dressed up! We're going out!" Casey said happily to Carol after hanging up his cell phone.

Carol smiled. "Well, _you're_ happy. Where are we going, and what's the occasion? Did you get a new job somewhere? Working construction on Harry and Meghan's new palace or something?" she teased him.

Casey grinned. "That would totally not interest me."

"You're so weird," Carol said with rolled eyes. "So what then?"

"Tammy and Evan are back in town. Tammy's cousin Angelica is a violinist and apparently the orchestra she is in has a show in Chicago in three days. She has tonight off, so Tammy and Evan decided to come and visit me, and bring her to meet me since she is curious about this fantastic best friend of theirs." Casey grinned proudly. "I love Tammy and Evan so much! I'm glad we're finally getting to hang out again. You don't realize how much you miss someone until you get to hang out again."

"Well, I'm very happy to be seeing them again. I wonder what Tammy's cousin is like?" Carol asked as she headed to her closet to find something to wear.

"They want to go to Chez Rouge, so make sure you wear a dress," Casey told her.

Carol nodded, and took out her red dress with a high slit.

"She's probably an old stuffy librarian type. I don't know why, but violinists always seem like they'd be boring and drab to me," Casey commented.

Carol laughed. "I know, right? That's always the picture I get in my head too."

"Well, I better get home. Jake probably has to go potty, and I need to shower and get ready. I'll pick you up at five-thirty. I told them we'd meet them there at six." Casey kissed her cheek.

"All right. See you at five-thirty." She kissed his cheek in return. "Give Jake a kiss for me."

Casey kissed her, this time on the lips and more passionately. "I will."

"Just not like that!" Carol teased.

Casey wrinkled his nose. "You're gross!" But he laughed as he left the condo.

Carol smiled to herself, then headed over to her jewelry box to select her jewelry for the night.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

Bridgette was nervous as she entered Starla's Boutique in the mall. She stopped by one of the full-length mirrors and studied herself one more time. Her hair was up in a high ponytail with dark blue streaks running all through it. She wore tight black pleather pants and a lace up black and blue corset. On her feet were black heeled stiletto boots that went to her knees and were studded with silver studs. Her eyeliner was heavy and black. Her blue eye shadow was a perfect match for her bright blue lipstick. It was just the kind of style that Starla's clothes were. She hoped it scored her points for her interview.

"Please tell me you're Bridgette."

Bridgette almost jumped at the sound of a voice beside her. She turned to see none other than Starla herself wearing a maroon and black lace corset dress with black fishnet stockings over maroon tights and black boots very much like her own only without the studs. There were maroon streaks all throughout her top-of-the-neck-length hair. Her lips were crimson red, her eyes were a smokey eye lined with black winged eye-liner, and Bridgette was sure that Starla had to be wearing eyelash extensions. They were so long and full! Starla was a freaking rock star to her!

Bridgette smile, and extended a hand out to her. "That I am! Bridgette Nielson."

Starla shook her hand. "Oh my gosh, I love your outfit! You dress kind of similar to me!"

Bridgette blushed. "Thanks! You are my fashion icon. I love everything you design. You're my inspiration!" She couldn't help but gush. Starla was everything she dreamed of being one day and more.

"Have you ever worked in fashion before?" Starla asked her.

Bridgette shook her head. "No, but I've worked as a waitress. I've dealt with long, hard hours only to be stiffed out of a tip by rotten customers who ran me ragged. I kept my cool the whole time and was nothing but nice to them despite their lack of respect for me, but they still left me nothing. I'm great under pressure, and I can hold my temper when needed. I'm also a very fast learner, and I am willing to work whenever you need me even at a moment's notice."

Starla grinned. "I'll be honest with you, Bridgette Neilson. I usually don't hire people with no experience…like ever."

Bridgette's face fell a little.

Starla smiled, and nodded toward the back room. "But lucky for you, I like you, I like your style, and I love what you just said. Come with me to my office and we'll talk about getting you a position here. Also lucky for you, I'm a good teacher." She smiled and winked at her.

Bridgette's face lit up. "Really?"

Starla laughed. "Really! I like you. You got spunk and you dress totally cool. You're way better than any of my other prospects." She nodded again toward her office. "Come on and follow me."

Bridgette did just that, smiling big with more hope and excitement in her heart than she had had since before the fateful day she was raped.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

"Thank you so much for joining me," Marshall said to Hope as they sat down together at Pete's Pizza. He had held out her chair for her.

"This doesn't mean anything. I'm only here to let you apologize in person. I got it, thanks." She took her chair back from him and sat down. She scooted herself in as he, with an embarrassed blush, took his seat across from her.

"I know. I'm still grateful you gave me this opportunity to apologize face-to-face. I really am terribly sorry for the way I behaved. I'm so embarrassed with myself," Marshall replied.

Hope smiled half-heartedly. "Apology accepted." She grabbed her menu and looked it over. She just wanted to eat and get the hell out. She didn't know what she had been thinking, agreeing to come to lunch with him. Regardless, this would be the last time.

They each ordered what they wanted once the waiter came, which was fortunately not that long after they were seated.

"So, do you eat here a lot?" Marshall asked.

Hope nodded. "From time to time. They've got the best pizza."

"I've been here only once before, but I enjoyed it when I had it the first time. I took little Lizzie, my granddaughter, here." He smiled. "Her favorite food is pizza. I swear she'd eat nothing but pizza if she could. She loves pineapple and pepperoni."

Hope smiled—sincerely this time. "Do you have a picture of her?"

Marshall nodded, and took out his wallet. He then pulled out her forth grade school picture.

"This is from last year, but she hasn't aged much," he said, handing it to her. She's ten now, but she is nine in that picture."

Hope smiled when she saw the girl. She was a beautiful little girl with long blonde hair, blue

-green eyes, and the cutest smile she ever saw besides her own children's' and grandchild's smiles of course. She handed it back to him. "She's a doll!"

"She's my pride and joy!" Marshall said, putting his picture back into his wallet, and then putting his wallet back into his pocket. "So, do you have any grandchildren?

Hope nodded. "I have one. One is grown now. She is twenty-one. She'll be twenty-two in November. She's my only grandbaby. But who knows? Maybe one day I'll even have more."

Their conversation until their pizza arrived was friendly and neutral. They talked about their kids and grandkids, and that was it. Hope supposed that was why being with him was more tolerable now.

When their pizza arrived, the waiter gave them their food, and then walked away.

"Shoot!" Marshall said as he sipped the refill the waiter had just brought him.

"What?" Hope asked, an eyebrow raised.

"This soda tastes a little like club soda. I think they need to change it. The syrup is running out. Would you be a dear and go up and ask them to get me a ginger ale instead?" he asked. "I'd go, but I'm feeling a little weak. I haven't eaten anything all day, and now I'm starting to feel it."

"Uh, sure. You would think being a doctor, you'd know to take better care of yourself," Hope teased with a wink and a smile. She got up to get his refill, taking his cup with her.

When she came back, Marshall had almost eaten half his pizza already. "I just got called into work, so I have to go. I'm so sorry," he said before quickly trying to wolf the rest down.

"It's all right. I understand. Duty calls," Hope said, secretly relieved for him to leave. Though, she had to admit, a part of her hadn't completely minded his company. With Aiden working on her days off, she sometimes got lonely. And she loved any chance she could get to brag about her kids and grandchild. He seemed like a pretty decent guy when not trying to hit on her.

He quickly finished his pizza and took a long swig of his soda. He then placed a twenty on the table. "That should cover it. So sorry again to be leaving you like this."

"Twenty is way too much, Marshall. Your half only came to ten," Hope said, starting to reach for her wallet to give him change.

But he shook his head. "You were kind enough to forgive me, so now I'm going to be kind enough to pay for you. And the rest can be the tip. Have a good life, Hope—both you and your family. I truly mean that," he said, giving her a meaningful look.

"Thanks. You too," she said sincerely, glad that he finally seemed to get the hint about not hanging out together any more.

He then left, and she went back to her meal, thinking about how much it would suck if Lucas and Amanda ever got married. After all, that would mean that Marshall would be part of the family as her cousin's father-in-law. She shuttered at the thought.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

Carol hugged Tammy and Evan like they had always been best friends of hers as well. "It's so good to see you, again," she said to them.

"And it's good to see you too!" Tammy replied. "I see you're still putting up with Casey. You must be a little crazy," she teased.

Carol laughed. "Oh, that I am!"

They all laughed.

Suddenly, a strikingly beautiful young blonde with long, shapely legs and big, bright blue eyes came in wearing a very cute black silk romper with a gold chain belt around her waist and gold metallic ankle boots on her feet. She had a smokey eye and a red lip. Her makeup made her already flawless face look even more flawless. She was the most beautiful woman Carol had ever seen, and she instantly felt insecure as Casey stared at the woman in awe.

"Hi! Sorry! My best friend chose to call me right at the moment we arrived. I was in the car talking to her," the girl replied. She extended a hand to Casey. "I'm Angelica. You must be Casey. I've heard so much about you! All good, don't worry." She smiled at winked at him. She had perfectly straight white teeth, Carol couldn't help but notice. Even her voice was perfect. She seemed so friendly and bubbly. She looked to be in her early forties if that. "You're even handsomer than my cousin said you were."

Casey blushed a bright red as he shook her hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Angelica!" He kissed her hand. "And might I say, you're far more beautiful than I imagined."

She grinned. "Let me guess, you pictured me as some kind of lame librarian, right?"

Casey's mouth dropped open. How'd you know?"

Angelica smirked. "For some reason violinists have a bad rep. Most people tend to think we're old and stuffy!"

"I guess that is a stupid assumption. I'm sorry." Casey blushed.

"You're a moron, Case," Evan said with an eye roll. "I mean, Look at Lindsey Sterling. She's a violinist, and she's _hot_ ," Evan said.

Tammy cleared her throat loudly.

"Not as hot as Tammy of course, but still hot!" Evan quickly added.

"Nice save," Tammy said with a smirk, and they all laughed.

"Hi, I'm Carol, Casey's girlfriend," Carol said. She had to be the one to introduce herself to Angelica. Angelica had acted like she hadn't even seen her. Carol also wanted to make it clear that Casey wasn't on the market. She hadn't liked the way Casey had kissed Angelica's hand. He hardly ever kissed Carol's hand, if ever.

"I see he likes the older women!" Angelica said with a grin.

For a split moment, Carol wanted to deck her. But then Angelica added, "But I can see why he likes you. You're stunning! And you have a great sense of style. That dress is sick!"

Carol felt her resolve slip. She thankfully knew that nowadays, sick meant awesome or cool. "Thanks! It's a Chanel." She loved throwing around her wealth when needed. Heck, she felt she needed something to set her apart from Angelica.

"Ooh, no wonder it's so nice! I prefer Valentino myself, but Chanel is also an iconic, brand," Angelica replied.

So Angelica also had money, _just great_. Carol was not pleased, but gave her a pleasant smile anyway, even though her heart wasn't in it.

The host led them to their seats then and they all sat down. Tammy and Evan sat down across from each other, and Casey held out Angelica's chair for her on the other side of Tammy.

He then held Carol's out in front of Angelica, and then instead of sitting on Carol's other side, he sat at the end between her and Angelica.

"Oo, good! We're sitting next to each other. Now you can tell me all about yourself. I'm so eager to hear about my cousin and cousin-in-law-'s best friend!" Angelica said to him with enthusiasm.

Casey blushed.

Carol hid a scowl. She wasn't appreciating how this Angelica person seemed to be all over Casey, and she also didn't appreciate Angelica acting like she wasn't even there. But their hot waiter then came to ask them their drink orders and it distracted Carol from her dismay…for the time being anyway…

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

"I'm glad you look happy. What's up?" Chase asked Bridgette as she met up with him at her apartment with a huge smile on her face.

She kissed his cheek. "I got a job! Starla hired me to be her assistant!"

"Oh my gosh, that's fantastic! Congratulations!" Chase said. They hugged, then kissed.

"I've got good news too. I talked to my dad, and he's friends with the dean of admissions at Salem U. The dean owes my dad a favor, so my dad is going to see about getting me in in August!"

"Yay! Now you can get your bachelor's degree and be on your way to becoming a lawyer!" Bridgette said happily.

"I have more news," Chase said quietly. "I know I should have talked to you about it first, but I didn't think you'd mind. It is just a great opportunity to make a lot of cash, which I want to use toward collage. If it upsets you in any way, I promise to quit."

Bridgette smiled. "You're the new co-owner of Neverland, aren't you?"

Chase blushed. "Tracey still owns it, but she appointed me manager over the girls. It pays more than my last one and more than any other job I could get. Also, I like that I know that with me, the girls would have nothing to worry about. I'm obviously not going to lust after them. I care about them like sisters. I'm kind of relieved to know that they will be looked out for personally by me now."

Bridgette hugged him tightly. "I'm happy for you, Chase, I really am. And I'm glad the girls have someone cool to look after them. I know they'll be safe with you."

"And with Bert and Greg. Those two are brick walls!" Chase said, referring to the bouncers who had been with Neverland from the beginning. They looked out for the girls as if they were their own daughters. They had no lustfulness in them over the girls. To them, the girls might as well have actually been their daughters. They were well-trusted and for good reason. They had never let anyone down in any way.

Bridgette laughed. "I know that's right! When did all this come about anyway?"

"I went to the club after I talked with my dad. I think it helped that I once worked there and Tracey new she could trust me and count on me," Chase replied.

"Well, we totally need to celebrate! Let's go to the mall and have dinner and then see a movie. I can even introduce you to Starla. She is _so_ cool, you're totally going to love her!" Bridgette said, the happiest Chase had seen her in a while.

Chase smiled. "Sounds like a plan!"

So they headed out, both in top spirits for once, and it felt good.

 _ ***came back to me.***_

"How's the love of my life, my beautiful wife, doing?" Aiden asked as he came home from work, set his briefcase down, and ran straight to his wife to embrace her.

Hope smiled, and held him close. "I'm doing all right." She kissed him. "Did you have a good day today?" She gently pushed some hair out of his eyes.

"I did!" Aiden grinned proudly. "Chase told me he wants to be a lawyer. He wants to be a prosecuting attorney, so one day he is going to join my firm and we will represent both sides of the law." He grinned. "I called the dean of Salem University and he agreed to let Chase enroll and start in August! I got his sister out of a sticky situation once, so he owed me one. Chase is soon going to be on his way to getting his bachelor's degree!"

Hope smiled. "That's wonderful, my love! I know I haven't always been Chase's biggest fan, but I am glad he is working hard to turn his life around."

"I just hate having to wait seven years," Aiden said.

Hope smirked. "Gee, I wonder where he's going to intern for his clerkship?"

Aiden grinned big. "Duh! I didn't even think of that! He'll obviously come to work for and observe me for it. I'm so excited I could burst!"

"Don't burst, the twins and I would miss you too much," Hope teased as she gently undid his tie.

"Speaking of which…" Aiden kissed Hope's lips and then headed over to greet his twins. "How are the most beautiful babies in the world today?"

Both smiled at him, and he kissed their little cheeks. He then tickled their ribs, causing them to laugh in unison.

Hope smiled at the sight, hating to wreck the moment, but not wanting to keep anything from Aiden either. "I had lunch with Marshall today."

Aiden looked over his shoulder at her. "Come again?"

"He called me and insisted that he apologize in person for hitting on me at the reception. He said he had had too much to drink," Hope explained.

Aiden stood up and headed back over to her. "Why the hell did you agree to go?"

"I was hungry, and in the mood for pizza, which is where he suggested we meet—Pete's. We only talked about our kids and grandchildren. He was behaved, very apologetic, and didn't try to hit on me again," Hope assured him. "He even got called in to work and left early. He paid for lunch."

"I still don't trust him. I'm surprised you even went," Aiden said, a little hurt.

Hope walked over to Aiden and held him close. "You have absolutely nothing to worry about, my love. Trust me, I assured him that was the last time. He still makes me uncomfortable. When he left he told me to have a nice life, so I'm pretty sure he's gotten the picture now."

"He better have," Aiden grumbled.

"Wanna pack up the twins and head to the café for dinner?" Hope asked. She then purred into Aiden's ear. "And then come home, put the twins to bed, and have dessert?"

"Can we just skip straight to that last part?" Aiden teased.

Hope grinned. "Good things come to those who wait, Mr. Jennings," she purred.

Aiden kissed her. "I'm living proof of that. I waited for you, and now you're mine again."

Hope kissed him lovingly in return, and then they got the twins ready and headed out for dinner.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

Arianna and Elizabeth had hit it right off. They spent all of dinner talking excitedly together and making plans to hang out in the summer. Liz, as mature as she was, didn't seem to mind that Arianna was three years younger than she was.

They took the girls shopping after dinner, for they still had an hour until the movie started.

At one point, they stopped in the toy store and Lucas agreed to get Arianna a new doll she wanted.

Liz picked up a Barbie and asked her mother is she could have it.

"May I have it, please, Mom?" she asked.

Amanda shook her head. "It's twenty dollars. I don't want to spend that much. I have bills to pay this month and employees to pay as well. Maybe for Christmas."

"But she's a special edition! She won't be available in December!" Liz whined.

"Liz, I said, no," Amanda said, sounding annoyed.

"I'll get it for you, no problem," Lucas said, picking it up to take to the register with Arianna's doll. He smiled at her. "Consider it an early Christmas present."

"Oh, Lucas, are you sure? Normally I wouldn't ask, but I really, really want her!" Liz said.

Lucas laughed. "I'm sure. I'm happy to do it. I can afford it."

Liz hugged him. "Oh, thank you, Lucas! You're the best!"

Lucas hugged her back. "You're so welcome, little one."

"Isn't that so nice of him Momma?" Liz asked Mandy.

Mandy smiled. "It sure is!" She looked at Lucas. Still smiling. "Thank you, Lucas!"

"Don't mention it!" Lucas said before going to pay for the dolls.

Once they were done shopping, they went to the movies.

"Mom, can I get some popcorn and candy?" Liz asked.

"Honey, it's way too expensive here. Besides, you just had dinner!" Amanda replied.

Liz looked crushed.

Lucas had intended on getting them all popcorn anyway. Arianna hated going to movies without popcorn, and frankly, so did he. "Don't worry, it's on me. Do you like extra butter too?" Lucas asked Liz.

Liz grinned big and nodded happily.

"A large bucket of popcorn, and…" Lucas looked at Liz. "Tell him what kind of candy you want."

"Snow Caps please!" Liz ordered. She looked at Ari. "Do you like those?"

Ari nodded eagerly. "They're my favorite!"

Lucas laughed. "You two can share those. Do you want anything, Sweetie?" Lucas asked Amanda with love.

"I'm fine, thank you," Amanda said sweetly.

"Sodas! Gotta have sodas. Tell him what you want! I'll have a coke with no ice," Lucas said to the guy taking their order. Arianna and Liz both ordered cherry Coke. They had a lot of the same favorites. Amanda ordered an orange soda.

The movie was cute, though the kids enjoyed it more than Lucas and Amanda did since it was more geared toward kids.

After the movie, Lucas dropped Amanda and Liz back home. Liz took Arianna in quickly to show her her room. Lucas stood outside with Amanda while he waited for Arianna to come back out.

"I had a great time tonight, did you?" He grinned.

Amanda looked at him with cold eyes and no smile. "It was all right," she said simply.

Lucas was concerned. "Is something wrong?"

Amanda nodded. "You could say that."

"What?" Lucas had no idea what she was upset about. "Did you not like that Ari joined us?"

Amanda shook her head. "She's fine. She and Liz get along great."

"Then what's wrong?" Lucas asked.

Her eyes narrowed at him. "What's wrong, Lucas, is that you undermined my parenting. I told Liz she couldn't have the Barbie, and yet you got it for her. It is the same with the popcorn and candy. I told her no, and yet you bought them and a soda for her!"

Lucas shrugged. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to undermine your parenting. I just thought the girl deserved a treat. She's such a sweet, well-behaved girl, and I had the money."

This only angered Amanda more. "And you think I don't? Hello, Lucas, in case you didn't know, I'm swimming in it! Or at least I will be one day once my father kicks off. Until then, my salon does just fine. The point is, my daughter doesn't need spoiling. She'll have money soon enough."

"Come on, Amanda. It was one doll and one snack. It's not going to turn her into Veruca Salt!" He laughed.

Amanda could take no more. "Stop mocking me!" Before Lucas even saw it coming, she reached out and punched him in the eye so strongly that he fell to the ground.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

"It was such a fun dinner tonight, wasn't it?" Casey asked Carol as they arrived back at her condo. He had so enjoyed hanging out with his best friends and getting to know Tammy's cousin. "Angelica was really nice, wasn't she?"

"She was nice to _you_ ," Carol replied.

Casey looked at her in confusion. "She was nice to you too. She complimented your looks and style. I thought you liked her."

Carol sighed. "That is about _all_ she said to me. I do like her, but what I didn't like was the fact that she was all over you. You're attention was all over her too."

"Carol, don't be silly. She is just a new friend. I wanted to know more about my best friend's cousin, and she wanted to know more about her cousin's best friend. That's all. It's hard to talk to everyone when you have five people in the group," Casey assured her.

"It's only five; not fifty. Five's not a big amount," Carol said grumpily. "I even flirted with the waiter the whole time to try to make you jealous, and you didn't even notice!"

Casey smirked. "Carol, I think you're the one who's jealous. You have no reason to be! Anyway, we're only dating. We're not even engaged."

"What's that have to do with anything? Just because we're only dating doesn't mean it makes you free to flirt with other women!" Carol could hardly believe her ears.

Casey sighed. "I'm not saying that. All I'm saying is you can't have me only when it's convenient for you. You don't want anyone else to have me, yet you don't want to make us forever."

"We can be forever without being engaged or married, Casey. Heck, even marriage doesn't guarantee forever anymore," Carol said simply.

"Yeah, well, where I come from it does." Casey was the one annoyed now.

"Well not where I come from!" Carol snapped.

Casey kissed her cheek. "I'm going to go home now before this escalades into a full blown fight. I love you, Carol, and no pretty blonde is going to change that. You're the only pretty blonde I want."

Carol calmed down a bit. "I'm sorry." She hung her head.

Casey gently lifted her head up with an index finger. "Don't be. It's good to know you care this much." He kissed her softly on the lips. "I love you."

"I love you too," she said. "Call me when you get home so I know you arrived safely."

"I will." He kissed her again. "I'll wish you good night over the phone."

She laughed. "All right."

They kissed once more, and then she saw him out before locking the door behind him. Chase had a key is he chose to come home that night.

She then headed to take a warm bath before bed with visions of Angelica and Casey being inseparable at dinner still playing like a movie in her head.


	90. S4E15

_**This Love…**_

 _ **Season 4 Episode 15: Sick Cycle Carousel**_

Lucas groaned. "What the hell?"

Amanda was covering her mouth with both hands, tears rolling down her cheeks. "Lucas, ohmigosh, I am _so_ sorry! I was way out of line." Amanda held out a hand to him to help him up.

"Out of line? You just punched me in the face so hard I fell to the ground. I'd say that's a little more than just out of line!" Lucas said, allowing her to help him up.

"I know, and I'm so, so sorry! It's just that… You were telling me how to raise my daughter, and I just snapped! I had a boyfriend after her father died. At first he was sweet and kind. He was a model boyfriend to me, and he treated Liz like a little princess. Then, the more we started dating, the more he got comfortable and began showing his true colors. He started trying to tell me how to raise Liz. He thought she should dress more appropriately. He'd say that when she was wearing a dress that showed off her arms. Never mind that it went past her knees. He didn't like _any_ part of her showing. He thought she shouldn't hang out with her friend Garret because Garrett looked at her in a way he didn't feel a boy should be looking at her. It was ridiculous of course. Garret was nothing but the sweetest little boy, who didn't even like girls yet. Of course I wasn't going to let him tell me how to parent my own daughter, so we'd get into arguments over it. I once told him that Liz wasn't his daughter, and therefore she wasn't his business. He punched me in the nose and broke it. Another time, he was convinced I was having an affair with my friend James. James is gay, and I told him so, but he didn't believe me. He jumped James outside of his job once and held a knife to his throat. He threatened to use it if he ever hung out with me again. He then came home and told me to admit that I was having an affair with James. I told him how preposterous it was, and he began to strangle me. I tried to break free, and couldn't. I thought I was going to die until at least he let me go. I knew then that I had to get out of that relationship. James called the cops on him anyway and he did some time in jail then moved to another state once he got out. My father and I both now act like he never existed, and that the relationship never happened."

Lucas shook his head. "I'm sorry you went through this, but your ex being abusive doesn't give you any right to abuse me! I wasn't trying to tell you how to parent. I just wanted to treat your daughter. She's so sweet, and I guess I just wanted some extra brownie points from her. It's hard being introduced to your significant other's else's kid. I want her to like me."

"I know. I guess I still have some trauma from my last relationship. I punched you because, for a moment, I got lost in my thoughts of Derek; my ex, and I punched before I could be punched first. I promise, it will never happen again!" Amanda was sobbing now.

Lucas sighed. He knew he should be angry, but under the circumstances, he understood. He held her close. "It's okay. Don't worry about it. I understand."

"I love you so much! Thank you for understanding!" Amanda hugged him tightly back and smirked over his shoulder.

The kids came back out then, and Arianna noticed that Lucas' face was already starting to bruise. "What happened, Grandpa Lucas?" she asked in shock.

Lucas smiled. We were playing a stupid game where I close my eyes and try to find Amanda. I'd say Marco, and she'd say Polo. She was standing right by the tree, and I ran to catch her, and since I had my eyes closed, I ran smack dab into the tree. I didn't know it was there."

"I'm sorry. I didn't know you were going to run over to me. I thought you were just going to walk," Amanda said. "I can get you an ice pack. I feel terrible!"

Lucas laughed. "It's fine, really. I'll ice my face when I get home."

Liz looked a little cynical. "Why would you play Marco Polo when you're not even in a pool?"

"We were just being dorks. It was really like Blind Man's bluff mixed with Marco Polo. It was my stupid idea. One thing you'll soon learn about me is that I am the king of dorks! I'm always messing around," Lucas replied.

Arianna laughed. "He is!"

Liz's expression softened. "Well, be more careful next time."

"I will be, sweetheart, I promise." Lucas hugged her goodbye, and kissed Amanda goodbye. "I hope you guys have a good night. Thanks for such a fun time tonight. We'll all have to do it again soon!"

"Yes! I want to play with Arianna again!" Liz said.

"And I want to play with Liz again!" Arianna agreed.

Amanda raised an eyebrow. "Same time, same place next week?"

Lucas grinned. "If it's okay with Ari's parents, which I'm sure it will be, sure!"

Arianna and Liz squealed with happiness.

"Amanda kissed him. "So sorry again," she whispered.

He kissed her in return. "Don't mention it." Then, with one more set of goodbyes between the four of them, Lucas and Arianna got in the car and headed for home, with Ari waving to Liz until they were no longer in sight of each other.

"I love Liz, and Amanda seems okay. She seems grumpy sometimes though," Arianna noted.

"She can be, but she's just protective of her daughter, just as I am of your daddy and you!" Lucas said with a smile.

Arianna smiled too, and hugged tightly the dolly that Lucas had gotten her.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

In the middle of the night, Aiden woke to hear Hope retching in the bathroom. He got up and walked into the bathroom to see her leaning over the toilet.

"Baby, are you all right?" he asked in concern. He went over to her and held her hair out of the way for her as he gently rubbed her back.

"I think I must have ate something off. I felt fine until I woke up five minutes ago feeling so…" Hope had to pause to throw up again. "Sick," she finished.

Aiden took some toilet paper from the roll and gently wiped her mouth for her. "Not to be gross, but is it coming out both ends? Maybe it's food poisoning." He tossed the paper in the toilet.

Hope shook her head. "No…Just my stomach." She threw up again.

"Should I take you to the emergency room?" Aiden asked with concern.

Again, Hope shook her head. "No, I think I'm fine now. I'm starting to feel a little better." She flushed the toilet and then slowly stood up on wobbly legs.

Aiden took her in his arms and carried her.

"You don't have to do that. I can walk," she insisted gently.

"I want to." He gently laid her down in bed and placed a hand over her forehead. "You feel slightly warm, but nothing alarming. I should go get the thermometer just in case."

"Aiden, my love, I'm fine. I just want to go back to sleep. I'm tired now," she said sleepily.

"Are you sure?" Aiden gently stroked her hair away from her face and neck.

She nodded. "I'm sure." She closed her eyes, more than ready to try to go back to sleep.

Aiden was still worried about her, but he wasn't going to try to wake her to take her temperature. Instead, he gently rubbed her back until she was completely asleep. Then, he drifted off to sleep himself, an arm gently draped over her body.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

The next morning, Aiden woke to Hope throwing up again.

"All right, this is ridiculous. I'm taking you to see Kayla," Aiden informed her as he held her hair back for her again.

"I'm fine, really," Hope insisted before throwing up again.

"You're not!" Aiden insisted in return. "Please, baby, go for my sake?"

Hope sighed. "All right. But I feel better already." She slowly stood up.

"I'm going to call Lucas and see if he can come over to watch the twins." It was his day off, and Aiden hated to ask him, but he had no choice. "Do you need help changing?"

"I'm fine. I really don't need to see Kayla," Hope tried again.

"I'm not going to shut up until you go see her," Aiden said to her.

Hope sighed. "All right."

Aiden kissed her cheek, then went to call Lucas.

When he came back upstairs, Hope was dressed, but she was lying on the bathroom floor on her side with her eyes closed.

"Hope!" He ran over to her, panicked. He took her in his arms.

Hope opened her eyes. "Okay, maybe you're right. Maybe I better see Kayla. I just feel so weak."

"Lucas is on his way, Baby. Do you need a trash bin to take with you?" Aiden asked as he gently helped her up.

Hope nodded. "I better."

"I'll be right back." Aiden grabbed a clean and empty trash can from the spare bedroom, lined it with a plastic bag, and then grabbed a beach towel from the towel closet. Next, he headed out to his car, laid the towel across the back seat, and placed the trash bin on the floor upwards. Finally, he ran back into the house and carried Hope out to the car. He gently laid her across the back seat with her head on the same side as the trash can so that she could just lean down and throw up if she had to.

Thankfully, Lucas didn't live far and was there five minutes later. "What's wrong?" he asked with concern for his cousin.

"She has been throwing up since last night. I want to have her checked out. I don't know if it's food poisoning or what," Aiden explained, already getting into the car. "The twins are still napping in their cribs. Hopefully we won't be too long."

"Take your time. Just make sure you figure it out. I'll be here," Lucas said.

"Thank you, Lucas. I appreciate this," Aiden said, a little distracted as he heard Hope throw up again. "I better go." He shut the card door, and moments later he quickly sped off to the hospital.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

"What's wrong?" Kayla asked with immediate concern when she saw Aiden carrying a very sick looking Hope into the hospital reception area.

"She started getting sick last night. She slept for a few hours, then woke up throwing up more. She hasn't been able to stop throwing up since this morning," Aiden said, sounding frantic. "Not for long anyway. She threw up on the way here."

"Carry her into the room," Kayla said, immediately leading the way.

Aiden followed her into the room straight ahead and gently laid her down on the bed.

Kayla took out her penlight and examined Hope's eyes. "Have you been feeling any weakness or shortness of breath?" she asked Hope.

"A little weakness. I tried to stand up in the bathroom earlier after having thrown up and I nearly passed out," Hope said quietly.

"I found her lying on the bathroom floor," Aiden informed Kayla.

"She could just be weak from throwing up. When and what was the last thing you had to eat?" Kayla asked Hope.

"I haven't eaten since around seven last night. I just had a sub sandwich and chips from Subway, and a lemonade," Hope answered.

"And for lunch?" Kayla pressed, now taking her blood pressure.

"A slice of pepperoni pizza and a garlic knot. I need to throw up again." Hope suddenly looked gray, and it worried both Aiden and Kayla.

Kayla quickly handed her a bucket to throw up into.

"None of that should be doing this to you…." She then set the bucket aside and took Hope's blood pressure once Hope had finished throwing up. "Your blood pressure is only slightly elevated." She took out her stethoscope and listened to Hope's heartbeat. "Your heart rate sounds normal, and your lungs are clear. I want to take some blood so we can get a deeper look into what is going on here. I'm also going to give you an IV of fluids." Kayla took out the otoscope to look into Hope's ears. "You could have Vertigo. The ear can cause severe nausea, believe it or not, if there is a problem with them…" Kayla looked in one ear for a moment, and then the next. "I don't see any problems with either ear." She took out her light again and looked in Hope's eyes. "Move your head to the left… Tilt it downward. Now to the right… Tilt downward. Up… Down… Do you feel any dizziness now?"

Hope shook her head.

"It doesn't look like Vertigo… "I'm going to go have Maxine give take your blood," Kayla announced. "I'll be back in a bit."

"I'm scared, Aiden," Hope said once Kayla had left.

Aiden took her hand in his and gently squeezed it. "Don't be. I'm sure everything is fine. Taking blood is just procedural."

Maxine came in then. "I hear you're not feeling well, Hope! I'm sorry."

"Thanks. I've just been throwing up since last night, and feel a little weak," Hope replied.

"The IV will get you your electrolytes back and help re-hydrate you. Then you should feel better," Maxine said with a kind smile. She spent the next five minutes setting up an IV, and then taking Hope's blood. "That wasn't so bad, was it?" she asked with another kind smile when she was done.

Hope smiled and shook her head. She was grateful for Maxine's gentleness. She never felt any pain with her.

Kayla came in a moment later. "I'm going to put a rush on that blood work. I'm sure you're not pregnant, but I'm also going to have the lab test for pregnancy just in case. I know you've already entered into menopause, so it's highly unlikely at your age, no offence, but we wanna check every angle so that we can figure out what is wrong."

Hope nodded. "I understand."

"It's going to be a couple days until we get your results back, but until then, I'm going to put you on bed rest. Eat nothing but foods gentle on your stomach until you start to feel a hundred percent. This is probably just the flue or a stomach bug. Dry toast and ginger ale is good, or maybe some chicken noodle soup. Even if you can just get the broth down it will be good. White grape juice is good for upset stomachs as well. I'm also going to prescribe you some Dexamethasone. Your hormone balance may be off because of your menopause. This is a man-made hormone that for some reason yet to be discovered takes care of nausea. Hopefully it will help you feel better. Give it a day or two, and when your test results come back, you can come and see me again for a better course of action if you're still not feeling well," Kayla ordered.

"All right, thank you," Hope said quietly. "I feel slightly better now. And a little hungry."

"They have chicken soup in the cafeteria, it just so happens," Kayla said with a smile. "Why don't you go down with Aiden and have some lunch? We also have ginger ale. I'll come down with your pills once I get your prescription filled."

"Thank you, Kayla. We appreciate this," Aiden said to her.

Hope nodded.

Kayla smiled. "It's my job, and I love Hope like a sister. I'm happy to help."

Hope got up off the bed and hugged Kayla, then let Aiden lead her into the elevator, and up to the cafeteria.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

Meanwhile, Bridgette was throwing up as well into her bathroom toilet.

"Are you all right?" Chase asked with worry as he held her hair back for her.

Bridgette nodded. "I'm fine. I think I should have listened to you about not eating that sushi from the gas station."

"I told you! Those kind of places leave it out for days before taking it off the shelf. It may be in the refrigerated section, but that doesn't make it sake to eat. I honestly don't know how they get away with selling that crap there. Anyway, who eats sushi? Yuck!" Chase made a face.

Bridgette threw up again. "Please don't mention food."

Chase blushed. "Sorry. Look, I have my first meeting with Tracey today about Neverland. I can cancel if you need me here to take care of you. I'm sure she would understand."

Bridgette shook her head. She wiped her mouth with toilet paper, then tossed the paper into the toilet and flushed before slowly standing up. "You go. This is important for you. I'll be fine. I'm feeling a little better now anyway. I'm probably just going to go back to sleep for a bit or maybe watch some TV in bed."

"Are you sure? Because I can call her right now and—"

Bridgette cut him off. "Go! You're all ready to go anyway. I'll be fine."

"I'll only be gone for an hour or so," Chase promised.

"Take your time. I'll just be sleeping anyway. I'd kiss you, but I have puke breath right now." She grinned at him.

He kissed her cheek. "I'll bring you back some chicken soup and ginger ale. Maybe even some Pepto-Bismol."

She laughed. "I'd greatly appreciate that."

A moment later, after Chase had kissed her cheek, helped her back into bed, and was assured that she would be fine, he left for his meeting.

Bridgette lie in bed on her back for a few minutes, staring up at the ceiling. "Oh God, please don't let this be what I think it is…" she quietly groaned.

Slowly, she got out of bed and took a shower. She then dried, dressed, and brushed her teeth, and then headed out to the grocery store that was just down the street from her apartment.

When she got back to her apartment fifteen minutes later, she sighed, and headed to the bathroom with her purchase.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

"What's wrong with you? You look like you just lost your best friend," Amanda quipped as she saw Liz enter the kitchen looking sullen. "Don't worry, you'll se Arianna again soon."

Liz looked her in the eyes. "Mamma, I want to ask you something, and I want you to be honest with me."

Amanda smirked; amused at her daughter's matureness for only being ten-years-old. "Ask away Lizzy Liz."

"Lucas didn't really get hurt walking into a tree last night, did he? You hurt him, didn't you?"

Amanda stiffened for just a moment. "Don't be silly, Elizabeth. I swear sometimes I don't know where you get your silly little ideas from. What would you like for breakfast? I can make you pancakes, or French toast. We also have eggs, bacon, and sausage."

But Liz wasn't one to forget what was on her mind with simply a promise of a good breakfast. "Mom, I know how angry you get sometimes. That story sounded made up. You punched him, didn't you? He said something wrong and you hurt him for it."

"We're out of hash browns, but I suppose we could make a quick stop to the grocery store and pick some up. We need more orange juice too," Amanda said as she wiped the counter with a wet rag.

"Momma, you really shouldn't go hitting people. Lucas is really nice, and—"

Liz didn't get to finish her sentence. Like a viper attacking its prey, Amanda reached out and smacked Liz hard across the face with the wet dish towel before Liz even saw it coming. "I told you I didn't hit him!" Amanda snapped, venom flashing in her eyes.

Liz got tears in her eyes and started to sniffle as she touched her cheek.

Amanda instantly felt bad. "Damn it, Liz, you need to listen to me when I tell you things. Don't argue with me. You know how mad it makes me!"

"I'm sorry, Mamma. It's just that I really like Lucas, and don't want to see you two break up. Plus Arianna is cool." The tears were sliding down Liz's cheeks, one cheek already red and damp from being hit with the wet rag.

"Well, don't you worry about it! Lucas isn't going anywhere. I can assure you that. We'll get together on Friday with him and Ari," Amanda assured her.

Liz nodded, though still looking crushed at what her mother had done to her. Not that it had been the first time. Liz knew the results of her mother's temper like the back of her hand.

Amanda tossed the rag into the skink. "You know what? It's Saturday. Why don't we go out to Denny's for breakfast? Then we can go to the salon and get mani's and pedis."

Liz smiled weakly. "Can I get bright blue polish?"

"What the heck, why not?" Amanda said with a laugh.

Liz grinned. "Okay."

Amanda hugged her tightly. "You know I love you, right Lizzie Liz?"

Liz nodded as she hugged her mother in return. "I know. I love you too."

Amanda kissed the top of her head. "Such a good girl I have!"

Liz smiled up at her mother, but her heart wasn't fully in it.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

"Aiden, I still feel so sick. What is happening to me?" Hope asked once they returned home. "I really shouldn't have eaten that chicken soup." She had thrown up once on the way home.

"Why don't you lie down and I'll bring up some ginger ale and your medicine? I'm sure once you take your medicine you'll start to feel better, Aiden reasoned.

"I hope so," Hope muttered.

"What's wrong?" Lucas asked as Aiden helped Hope in the house.

"We've got to wait on the test results. Kayla doesn't seem to know what it is yet," Aiden answered. "I'll be right back down."

"Aiden, I need a toilet _now_ ," Hope said. But it was too late. She threw up all over the stairs. "I'm _so_ sorry!" She had tears in her eyes.

"Baby, don't you even worry about it. You have nothing to apologize for." Aiden carried her up the stairs the rest of the way and gently laid her down on the bed. He brought a bucket over and set it by her bed, and then he went and got some toilet paper to wipe her mouth clean.

"Thank you. It's so hot in here. Can you please turn the air on?" she asked once he had wiped her mouth for her.

"Of course, baby." Aiden kissed her forehead. He tossed the soiled paper in the toilet, flushed, and then headed back into the bedroom. "I'll be right back." He then, he headed down the stairs. He found Lucas cleaning up the stair throw up with paper towels and a cleaner he had found underneath the sink. "Thank you. I could have done that."

Lucas looked at him. "You have enough on your hands as it is. Look, I can stay in your guest room tonight if you need me too. I know Hope is clearly in no condition to help with the twins, and you are busy taking care of her."

"I don't want to impose. Don't you have to work?" Aiden asked.

"I can work from here. My mother has most of it covered anyway. Anything I need is on my laptop. I just have to stop home to grab that and an overnight bag, but other than that I'm good to go," Lucas informed him.

"I'd appreciate that, thank you." Aiden was relieved.

"No problem!" Lucas finished cleaning the steps, then went into the kitchen to dispose of the soiled paper towels, put the cleaner back where he'd found it, and wash his hands.

Aiden checked on the twins, who were happily playing in their playpen.

"All right, that should do it!" Lucas said, coming out of the kitchen.

Aiden then noticed Lucas' bruise. "What happened to you?" he asked.

Lucas blushed. He had almost forgotten about it. "I was just playing some stupid game with Amanda. We were playing Blind Man's bluff with a Marco Polo twist. I'd call out Marco, she'd call out Polo. I ran to snatch her and didn't realize there was a tree in my way."

Aiden winced. "Ouch!"

Lucas nodded. "Exactly."

"Well, if you're sure, I'd love for you to stay here. I'd actually really appreciate the help!" Aiden said with a gentle clap to Lucas' back.

"No problem!" I'll go home and get the stuff I need quick, then be back here in half hour tops." Lucas pat his back in return.

"Thanks!" Aiden said.

"Don't mention it, Lucas responded before leaving.

Aiden then quickly got Hope's medicine and poured her a glass of ginger ale. He brought them up to her and found her fast asleep. From the looks of it, she hadn't thrown up again, so he supposed that was good. He set her meds and glass next to her for when she woke up. He didn't want to wake her again in case she woke feeling nauseous. He kissed her forehead and smoothed her hair away from her face, then headed downstairs and turned the air on. Finally, he threw himself down onto the couch and sighed. He was worried about Hope, but he hoped that in a couple days, they would have the answers to their questions. To him, those two days couldn't come soon enough!

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

When Chase came home, he was startled to find Bridgette crying in the bedroom.

"What's wrong?" he asked in alarm as he ran to sit down next to her on the bed.

"The worst thing in the world," Bridgette replied.

"Did someone die?" Chase asked, rubbing her back.

"They might as well have!" Bridgette wailed.

"Bridge, please… Tell me what's wrong!" Chase was really starting to worry now.

Bridgette looked up at him with tear-filled eyes. "I'm pregnant, Chase."

"What? How is that…? Are you sure?" Chase was confused. He hadn't slept with Bridgette in two months. They hadn't made love since…" He finally understood as his face went ashen. "Are you sure?" It came out in a whisper.

Bridgette nodded. "I took the test this morning. It's positive. I didn't get my period last month, and I haven't had it yet this month. I just thought it was because of the stress over being raped. I guess I was in denial. I didn't want to think that…" She broke out into sobs. "Oh, gosh Chase, what am I going to do?" She looked at him as if she had just lost her best friend in the whole word.

"Maybe the test is wrong. These at home tests aren't always a hundred percent accurate," Chase replied, trying to calm her.

But Bridgette shook her head and turned to look at him with eyes filled with both anger and despair. "I'll make an appointment at the hospital for a test just to confirm, but we need to face facts, Chase." She narrowed her eyes. "That bastard raped me and got me pregnant."

Chase paled. Even though Bridgette was the one who was pregnant, he was suddenly the one who felt like throwing up.


	91. S4E16

_**This Love…**_

 _ **Season 4 Episode 16: The Most Beautiful Girl in the World**_

The next two days were hell for Hope. The medicine for her nausea didn't seem to be helping very much, and she was always either sleeping or throwing up. Aiden was going crazy not knowing what was wrong with his wife.

On the morning they were to head back to the hospital for Hope's test results, Hope peed the bed. She then burst into tears. "What is wrong with me? I'm almost fifty-seven years old, and I'm peeing the bed. I'm losing control of my bladder! I'm too old to pee the bed and too young to lose control of my bladder!" Her sobs were interrupted as she threw up again, and then she cried harder. "It came out the other end too now. I haven't even been able to shave in days, I've been so sick. I'm so disgusting!"

"You are not disgusting, Baby. You're sick. You can't help it that your body is suddenly attacking you," Aiden assured her. "Do you feel well enough to get up?"

Hope looked at him with tears still in her eyes. "I don't know. I think I'm done throwing up, but it comes upon me so suddenly that I never know for sure anymore."

"We have to get you out of this mess," Aiden said gently. He gently picked her up, not even caring that he was getting throw up and urine on himself, or even that she smelled like a sewer. He carefully undressed her once in the bathroom, and then placed her in their tub, and ran the water, making sure it was just the right amount of warm without being too hot for her.

"I've turned into a freaking invalid who can't do anything for herself," Hope whimpered.

"Stop beating yourself up, Baby. You're not an invalid. You're just sick right now. Everyone gets sick once in a while," Aiden said gently.

"Like this?" Hope asked.

Before Aiden could respond, the twins began so sob. Lucas had had to go into the office, so Aiden was alone with them. Shawn was due to arrive in a half hour to stay with them while Aiden took Hope to the hospital.

"I'll be right back!" Aiden said to Hope. He then rushed into the nursery. Maddie was crying because Haiden had grabbed her favorite toy. Haiden was crying too because Maddie was trying to take it back from him.

"Babies, mommy and I got you both one. Remember?" he asked. For some reason one of the two rattles was on the floor outside of the crib. He then realized that Haiden must have tossed his out. He handed the rattle to Maddie so that she would stop trying to take back the one Haiden had. Thankfully, it pacified them both. "Daddy will be right back. He has to take care of mommy."

Aiden then rushed back to Hope in time to turn her water off for her. He winced as he saw the throw up on the floor.

Hope blushed. "I'm sorry. I had to throw up and felt too weak to get out of the tub, so I threw up over the side."

"No, I'm sorry. I should have thought to put a trash bin there for you," Aiden said.

He quickly cleaned the spot up with paper towels and an all-surface spray. He put the soiled paper towels in the trash can and tied the bag up to keep the scent out, and then put the rest of the paper towel roll and the cleaning spray back underneath the bathroom sink where they had been. He then headed back to Hope. First, he took his shirt off so as not to get any more throw up on her, then he and shampooed her hair for her.

She closed her eyes as he gently massaged the shampoo into her scalp and made sure every strand of her hair got covered. She was relishing in feeling some form of comfort after a hellish two days. He used the detachable shower head to rinse her hair and then put the conditioner in it and let it set while he used her wash cloth to wash her lower private areas, making sure to rid her off all urine and feces traces. He tossed the now dirty wash cloth in the hamper, and then used a body puff and body wash to clean the rest of her body. He even went as far as shaving her, for he knew how she hated to have hair on her legs and under arms. He was so careful that he didn't even cut her once, yet her skin was left hair-free and smooth. All he had left to do now was rinse the conditioner out of her hair.

"How did I ever get to be so lucky?" Hope asked, feeling like she was dying. She wanted to kiss him for taking care of her and looking after the twins, but she felt too weak to even do that.

Aiden looked her in the eyes and gently stroked her cheek. "Baby, _I'm_ the lucky one." He then kissed her forehead. "Now let's get the conditioner out of your beautiful hair so that we can see about getting you better. I never want my wife to have to feel bad or disgusting. You're the most beautiful woman on the planet to me, Hope. Sick or not, you'll always be the most beautiful woman in the world in my eyes."

Hope cried again, only this time because she was so touched and overwhelmed with emotion.

Aiden simply brushed the tears away with his thumbs and kissed the spots where the tears had been on her cheeks. "Please no crying, Baby. When you cry, it makes me want to cry."

"I just love you so much," Hope whispered.

"Baby, there are not enough words in any language to tell you how much I love you too," Aiden said gently. He kissed her cheek, and then gently used the shower nozzle to wash the conditioner out of her hair. He then hooked the nozzle back up, and drained the water as he carried Hope out of the tub. He then helped her deodorize and dress.

"Do you need me to brush your teeth for you?" Aiden asked her.

Hope smiled. "You've done more than enough for me already. I'm feeling a little better. For now anyway. I can brush my teeth."

"Are you sure?" Aiden asked her with concern.

Hope nodded. "I'm sure."

"I'm going to go clean the bed," Aiden informed her.

He then headed to the bedroom, stripped all the linens including the mattress cover, which thankfully Hope had insisted on every bed in the house having. Their mattresses were too expensive to take risks, she had said about their top of the line mattresses. Mattress covers/protectors had certainly been a good call on her part! He quickly took everything down to the laundry room.

Once the linens and cover were washing, he headed back up to check on Hope. She was lying on the bed. "Are you feeling sick again?" he asked her, rushing over to her with worry.

"No. I'm just feeling a little weak. But I don't want anything to eat. I can't eat without throwing it back up, so please don't ask me to eat anything," she pleaded.

"I won't," he assured her. But he was worried. She hadn't been eating much other than chicken broth lately, and she had to eat more than that to survive.

The door slammed then and Shawn called out to them from downstairs.

Aiden announced that they were in the bedroom, and a moment later, Shawn appeared in the doorway. "Mom, what's going on?" he asked, rushing over to her. He had heard from Aiden that she was sick, but he hadn't expected her to look like she was knocking on death's door! He was suddenly very afraid for his mother. He sat down beside her on the bed and held her hand. "What's wrong with her?" he asked Aiden when Hope closed her eyes, too busy fighting another wave of nausea to answer her son.

Aiden quickly brought a trash bin over to her. "She has been throwing up for the past couple days. We had some tests done and we're heading in to hopefully get the results and some answers today," Aiden explained to him.

"What do they think it might be?" Shawn asked in practically a whisper.

Aiden shrugged. "Your guess is as good as ours. All I know is that Kayla better have some answers for us today or I'm going to a different doctor."

Hope suddenly groaned before leaning over the bed and puking into the trash bin Aiden had brought over for her.

Shawn nodded in response to what Aiden had said about finding another doctor if Kayla couldn't get hem answers. He was suddenly so worried about his mother being sick that he felt he was going to puke as well.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

"Your tests results are in. You are indeed pregnant," Kayla said gently to Bridgette. She placed a hand over her shoulder. "Do you know what you're going to do about it yet?" With Kayla being one of the only people who knew that Bridgette had been raped, Bridgette had been comfortable with Kayla enough to tell her right off the bat that it wasn't Chase's baby.

Bridgette sighed. "I thought of aborting it the moment I took the home pregnancy test. I wanted to march over to the abortion clinic that same day and have the problem erased," she said honestly. She looked in Kayla's eyes. "But I couldn't. I don't believe in killing anybody, let alone an innocent. It isn't the baby's fault that he or she was conceived by force. I don't know yet if I'm going to keep him or her, but I do know for sure that I am going to have him or her."

"You're doing a very noble thing, Bridgette. I know what you're going through. Maybe not in the pregnancy by your rapist sense, but as far as the rape part goes, I know how you feel," Kayla confessed.

Bridgette's eyes widened in surprise. "You were raped too?"

Kayla slowly nodded, and took a seat next to the hospital bed that Bridgette was sitting on the end of. "A long, long time ago, my husband's brother raped me. I don't like going into details about it to this day. It is something I never fully got over."

"I'm so sorry you went through that too. I wouldn't wish that on anyone," Bridgette said sincerely. She deeply felt for her. "Doesn't that make it difficult being married to the man whose brother raped you?"

"Well, it wasn't Steve who raped me. Honey, I know you may feel like it, but you really can't blame anyone else for a rape except the rapist. Someone may be a family member to the rapist, but that doesn't mean they condone or had anything to do with their family member, brother in my case, raping someone. I can't blame Steve for something his brother did any more than you could blame Max's father or whomever. Just like you're not blaming this baby," Kayla said softly.

Bridgette nodded. "I fully agree. I just meant that things must feel awkward when you go to have family dinners or spend holidays together."

"Sadly, years ago Jack had an accident with a crashed elevator and he is dead now. So I don't have to worry about those kind of things anymore. But even if he hadn't died… It took me a long time, but I eventually forgave him. He was deeply sorry for what he did to me, and he and I were able to move past it. He was fortunately a changed man before he died. I know that sounds so clichéd, but believe it or not, some people really can and do change." Kayla smiled weakly at her.

"Like Chase," Bridgette said.

Kayla nodded. "And like his father. His father wasn't a rapist, but he wasn't always the wonderful man that he is to Hope now. Not that he was ever that bad of a person to begin with, looking back on it, but the point is people can change."

Bridgette shook her head. "Not Max. He'll never change. And he's going to rot in jail for a very long time; right where he belongs."

Kayla hoped for Bridgette's sake that it was true, about staying in jail. "So, Chase didn't want to come along today?"

"Oh he did. I just felt that this was something I needed to do alone," Bridgette informed her. "He had to work anyway. He's the new co-manager at Neverland." Bridgette smiled proudly. "He's saving up so he can start college in the fall. He wants to be a lawyer like his dad."

Kayla smiled a sincere smile. "That is very admirable of him! I'm glad he's turned his life around. How does he feel about this baby?"

"He told me that he will support anything I want to do about it," Bridgette replied. "But he agreed, he doesn't think I should abort it. He and I both just want all the violence to stop, you know? Why should anyone have to die because of what Max did? We don't want anything else bad to happen because of my rape. Chase didn't order me to keep it, but he politely told me his opinion and said he couldn't make the decision for me, but that is what he would do if he were a woman and in my shoes."

"He sounds like he has a sensible head on his shoulders!" Kayla said. Maybe the boy really had changed after all, she thought.

Bridgette smiled weakly. "He really does."

"Well, I'm going to set you up with some pre-natal vitamins, and I will have Maxine come in with a list of things that are okay to eat during a pregnancy, and what isn't okay to eat. And of course obviously I really wish you wouldn't smoke, drink, or do drugs. I know you don't do drugs, but I have to add that anyway," Kayla said with a smile and a wink.

Bridgette laughed. "I know. And don't worry, I was never much of a drinker anyway, and I certainly am against smoking. Yuck!"

"I'm glad to hear it for both your sake and the baby's sake. Maxine can also set up your next appointment. I want to make sure this baby remains nice and healthy. And if you have any questions about adoption, or even just about being a first time mom, you can let me know and I will be more than happy to get you some pamphlets, or even dish out some advice to you." Kayla said to her with a smile.

"Thanks, Dr. Brady. I truly appreciate this. I know you're just doing your job, but still. Your kindness means the world to me." Bridgette got teary-eyed. "I'm sorry. I'm such a baby."

Kayla chuckled, and hugged her. "No you're not. You're pregnant and hormonal. You're not the first mama-to-be to cry, and you certainly won't be the last! Besides, there is absolutely nothing wrong with showing emotion pregnant or not. We all need to get a good cry out once in a while! It's good for the soul." She gently stroked her hair. In some ways, Bridgette reminded Kayla of her daughter Stephanie.

Bridgette slid off the bed. "So, I'm all set for now?"

Kayla nodded. "You're all set! Just head to the front desk to talk to Maxine, and you'll be good to go. I will see you in two weeks!"

"Okay, thank you again," Bridgette said.

Kayla smiled at her. "Don't mention it."

They then both went their separate ways, Kayla to her office to prepare for Hope's appointment, and Bridgette to the front desk to get what she needed.

Bridgette was scared, but she knew that having the baby was something she had to do. She couldn't abort it. She was already traumatized from the rape. The last thing she needed was guilt over killing an innocent baby too.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

"What's wrong?" Aiden asked with worry as Kayla looked over the test results with a worried look on her face.

"She's not pregnant, nor is it vertigo. It's not the flue or even a stomach bug. I have no idea what is wrong," Kayla answered.

"Well something has to be wrong! She's been throwing up for days and nothing is helping to make her feel better. I'm going to need a better answer than you have no idea!" Aiden snapped.

Kayla looked pained.

"Aiden, it's all right. I'm sure she'll figure it out," Hope said gently. She smiled at Kayla. "Won't you, Kay?" She looked worried despite her confident words.

The worry showed in Kayla's eyes as she looked at her. "I'm going to order some new tests. We're going to find out what is wrong with you. I want to do a sonogram, an ultrasound, and a CT scan. I also want to give you an EKG exam. I know it all seems excessive, but we need to find out what is going on. I also want to test for poisons. I have to look at this from every angle so that whatever there is going wrong with you, I will find it."

"It sounds like I'm going to be here for a while," Hope said, not looking forward to it, but knowing she had no choice.

Kayla nodded. "I feel it's best until we can figure out what is wrong with you. I also want to get another IV in you to replenish your fluids and electrolytes. We also need to get some nutrition back in you since you clearly haven't been able to keep anything down lately. Have you?"

Hope shook her head. "I try to eat, but it all comes back up anyway. Now I don't even feel hungry—just nauseous all the time."

"I'm admitting you until we get this under control. It's no longer safe for you to not be admitted," Kayla informed her.

"But the twins! They need me!" Hope cried.

"Baby, you're of no use to them when you're sick. You need to be in the hospital because they need you to get healthy, and so do I." Aiden took her hand and kissed it. "Between myself, Lucas, Will, and Shawn, we'll all be here. Even Claire will help I'm sure. I can even call Ciara and—"

Hope interrupted him. "Don't call her. I don't want to worry her."

"Hope, she has a right to know her mother is sick. She'll be upset if she finds out you were sick and no one called her," Aiden said gently.

"I know, but please just wait until we know what is wrong with me. Please, Aiden," Hope quietly pleaded with him.

Aiden sighed as he looked into her eyes. He could never deny her anything. "All right. But I can't guarantee Shawn didn't already call her."

"Please, when you get home tell him not to call her," Hope pleaded.

"I will, but I want to stay with you," Aiden said to her.

"The twins needs their daddy," Hope said, tears in her eyes.

"They have their big brother." Aiden squeezed her hand and kissed her cheek. "I can't leave you. I won't be able to concentrate on anything knowing you're here and sick."

"She'll be in good hands, I promise you," Kayla assured him with a kind smile. "I'm working until midnight, and after that Dr. Galveston will take over. He's been a doctor twenty years longer than I have. He is even more skilled than I am. She will be just fine, I assure you."

Aiden was still unsure. "I can at least stay with you until you're admitted."

Hope placed a hand over Aiden's forearm and looked at him pleadingly. "Aiden, please go home and stop Shawn from calling Ciara. If he already has, have him call her back and tell her not to come here. She needs to finish her schooling. I want the twins to at least have one of their parents at home."

Aiden sighed. "Fine. But I'm coming back after the twins are in bed. Lucas said he can make it back out tonight to stay with them if I need him to."

Hope nodded, agreeing so that he would do as she said and go home now. "All right."

He lovingly kissed her lips. "I love you. I'll be back tonight, I promise."

Hope kissed him in return, and then rested her forehead against his. "I love you too. Give the twins a kiss for me. Please take care of them. The only way I can tolerate being here is by knowing that you and my babies are safe. Our babies."

"I will." Aiden took her hand and kissed it. "I promise." He then kissed her lips once more. "I'll be back soon." He said a polite goodbye to Kayla. "Take care of her. Please." He had tears in his eyes.

"I'll do everything I can. I promise, Aiden. We'll get her better soon," Kayla assured him, though secretly, she was worried.

Aiden nodded, and then left. He meant what he had said before. If Kayla couldn't figure out what was wrong with Hope, then he was going to find someone who could!

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

Chase came back to Bridgette's with a pizza, wings, breadsticks, and two two-liter bottles of Pepsi. He set everything on the coffee table and then got some cups and napkins and brought them over as well. "Bridge, I brought home dinner!" he called out.

Bridgette appeared, and smiled when she saw the dinner on the table. "Yum! I'm starved. Thank you." She kissed his cheek.

He kissed hers in return. "How did your doctor's appointment go?"

"Everything is fine with the baby so far. She gave me some prenatal vitamins and set up my next appointment. I told her I don't know if I want to keep the baby or not," Bridgette answered.

They sat down to eat.

Chase looked at her. "I know it's not my decision. It is totally yours, but I want you to know that if you decide to keep this baby, I'll be here a hundred percent to support you. I know I won't always be here because of work and school, but I can help out whenever I'm home."

Bridgette had tears in her eyes. She was touched. "You're going to have a lot going on. You won't need a baby on top of that. I don't want to give up my new job. That is, if Starla even lets me stay on now that I'm pregnant."

"As long as you're still able to do your job, which I'm sure you will be able to, I don't see why she would fire you," Chase reasoned. "And we can get a nanny. We can make it work. I'm sure Starla will even be able to give you maternity leave if you ask her. She sounds pretty cool and understanding from what you've told me about her."

"You sound like you want this baby," Bridgette said with a smirk before she took a bite of a chicken wing.

Chase nodded. "I do. I mean, granted I'm not thrilled at the thought of the father being Max, or how he or she was conceived, but as we discussed before, it's not the baby's fault. I can be the father that Max could never be to him."

Bridgette smiled. "You're so sweet. But honestly, I don't even know if I could handle the baby. I mean, it would be an every day reminder of what Max did to me."

Chase nodded. "I can totally understand that. Do you think you'd resent the baby for it?"

"Well, no. He or she can't help what his or her father did, and he or she can't help being conceived either. You know, I've always heard that God can use bad to bring good into the world. Maybe this baby is the good coming from the bad," she said reasonably.

Chase nodded. "He very well could be. Or she."

"I need to think about it a little more," Bridgette said quietly.

"It's fine. You have over half a year to decide." Chase smiled at her. "But I don't know if I'm ready for marriage yet. I'm willing to help you raise him or her, but marriage…"

Bridgette nearly choked on her soda. "Are you crazy? I'm still figuring out who I want to be in this world. I love you, but I'm _so_ not ready for marriage, nor am I going to marry you just because my rapist knocked me up! Not to be blunt about it, but…"

"Just so we're in agreement," Chase said with a grin.

"In total and complete agreement," Bridgette replied.

"Actually, total and complete mean the same thing, so you were just being redundant," Chase teased her.

"Oh shut up and eat your pizza! You're not a lawyer yet!" Bridgette teased, throwing a couch pillow at him.

Chase dodged the pillow and laughed, and then turned the television on to find something interesting to watch together while they ate.

Bridgette smiled. It felt good knowing that whatever she decided to do with the baby, keep him or her or give him or her up, she would have Chase there to support her and cheer her up.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

As it turned out, Shawn had been cautious like Hope. He hadn't wanted to tell Ciara about Hope being sick until they knew exactly what was making her sick. He had to work that night, but Lucas relieved him.

Aiden got the twins fed and took them to the park. He took them to the store and bought them each a new toy. Then, he took them home and bathed them. After their bath, he got them changed and dressed for bed since they wouldn't be going anywhere else that night.

He kissed their little cheeks once for Hope, and once for himself before putting them in their playpen to play.

Lucas brought him over a cheese burger, fries, and a soda. "You need to eat before you leave. I know Hope would want you to take care of yourself."

"Lucas, I really need to get back to the hospital. Hope needs me," Aiden protested.

"Kayla is looking after her. Besides, I'm sure she is still getting tests done. Now sit!" Lucas motioned to the coffee table where he had all the food already set out.

"I can eat in the cafeteria," Aiden tried.

"You will be waiting by Hope's bedside and will make no time to go to the cafeteria and eat," Lucas said wisely.

Aiden groaned. "Fine. I'll go get us some cups and napkins."

Begrudgingly, Aiden ate all of his dinner, made small talk with Lucas about Hope while they ate, and then he said goodbye to Lucas and the twins, and headed straight for the hospital.

When he got there, Hope wasn't in her room.

"She's still getting her EKG exam, but it's her last test. She's already had her sonogram, ultrasound, and CT scan and she had more blood work done as well," Maxine informed him when he appeared in the lobby.

"Thanks, Maxine. I hate that she has to be treated like a pin cushion. I know it's necessary, but still, I hate it." Aiden plopped himself down in a chair with a sigh.

"Don't worry. She's a trooper. Nurses such as myself are much better trained and equipped nowadays than the nurses of yesterday. Things no longer hurt like they used to," Maxine assured him.

Aiden smiled. "Hope told me once that once you have a baby, nothing else pain-wise really phases you."

"That's something you'll never be able to personally find out!" Maxine said with a smirk.

Aiden laughed. "No, I guess not!"

Just then, Hope came back to her room, wheeled in by a nurse.

Aiden jumped out of his chair. "Hope!" He ran over to her. "Are you feeling better?"

"Well, I've only thrown up once since you've left, so I guess that's something. I am so tired of all the tests though." She laid down in bed with the assistance of her nurse. "Thank you," she said to the nurse with a weak smile.

Kayla came in then and the nurse discreetly left. Kayla tried to put on a brave face, but Aiden saw something in her eyes that scared the hell out of him.

"What's wrong?" he asked her.

Kayla sighed. "Nothing is showing up in the toxicology report and we see nothing wrong with the sonogram results. But we did detect early signs of heart failure and kidney damage when we did the EKG test." She looked at Hope. "Furthermore, your tests showed that your creatinine level is 1.5 when normal is 1.2. This is a clear sign that your kidneys aren't working right. That is more than likely why you lost control of you bladder this morning." Hope had, embarrassed, told her about it in private earlier when no other nurses were nearby to overhear.

"So what do we do? Can anything be done?" Hope asked, trying to keep her panic in check.

Aiden squeezed her hand, too sick to speak himself.

"I'm going to put you on a pill for your heart, and as for your kidneys, I'd like to schedule a biopsy for the first thing tomorrow morning to try to detect better what is going on," Kayla answered.

"I feel like I'm never going to get out of here," Hope said with a groan.

"You will, Baby. I promise you." Aiden kissed her hand.

Kayla nodded. "We'll find what's wrong with you, Hope. The biopsy should tell us something."

"Can I stay with her tonight?" Aiden asked.

Kayla hesitated. "We usually don't allow loved ones to stay with patients overnight, but I suppose I could have them bring a cot in just this once."

"What about the twins?" Hope asked. "They'll be scared if they don't have either one of us to wake up to tomorrow."

"Lucas is with them. Shawn even said he'd stop by in the morning," Aiden assured her.

"You can't be in the room with her when we do the biopsy, so you can go home then. I'm going to go ahead and get that scheduled for nine o clock, so you can still be with the twins in the morning," Kayla said to Aiden.

"But—"

Hope cut Aiden off. "Aiden, please. You can stay with me tonight, but tomorrow morning be there for the twins. They need their daddy."

Aiden nodded reluctantly. "All right."

Kayla smiled. "I'll go have them bring that cot in."

"Thanks, Kayla," Aiden said to her.

"Yes, thanks, Kay," Hope said quietly.

"Don't mention it," Kayla said with a sympathetic smile before leaving the room.

"Are you scared, Baby?" Aiden asked Hope as he kissed her hand and stroked her hair.

"A little. Are you?" she asked.

"I have faith in Kayla." But Aiden was just trying to be brave for his wife. Inside, he was terrified.

They were both silent for a moment before Hope spoke up. "What if it's cancer, Aiden?" she asked in a whisper. "I was too afraid to ask if she thought it could be."

Aiden hadn't even thought of that! He tried not to panic at the thought. "I'm sure she would have said something if she thought it could be that," he said gently. He kissed her cheek. "I know it's easier said than done, but try not to worry, okay? You're going to be fine." Aiden then climbed in to bed with her and held her close. There was no way in hell he was going to let her die! Again, if Kayla couldn't help her, then he would sure as hell find someone who would.


	92. S4E17

_**This Love…**_

 _ **Season 4 Episode 17: Danger Zone**_

The next morning, Kayla took Hope in for an MRI and by the following morning when the results arrived, it was not good news.

"What's wrong?" Aiden asked Kayla as he held Hope's hand. He could tell from the look in Kayla's eyes that she hadn't like what she saw on the results.

Kayla sighed and looked at Hope. "Your heart and kidneys aren't doing any better. Now your liver doesn't seem to be functioning correctly."

"Do you think it's cancer?" Hope looked deathly pale and still felt like hell.

Kayla shrugged. "I don't know. It doesn't seem likely since I see no masses. But I want to order some more blood work to see if you could have somehow contacted hepatitis A. It could have been contacted through something you ate or drank… I can have the lab right here deal with the results so that we don't have to send them off. I can have the results in a few hours."

"How many more times are you going to poke and prod my wife?" Aiden snapped. "She's sick and has barely been able to keep any food down in the past four days. She can't go on like this. This is no way to live. You've been at this for years and some of your colleagues even longer. Why can't any of you seem to figure out what's wrong?" Aiden knew he shouldn't take it out on Kayla, but he couldn't help it. It was killing him to see Hope so sick. He felt helpless to do anything about it, and the ones who should know what to do about it didn't.

"Aiden, I'm doing the best I can, as are my fellow doctors. However, we are not God. Even the most skilled and trained physician doesn't know everything there is to know. We will find answers, but you're just going to have to be patient. I realize how worried you are about your wife, and rightly so. But please, don't take it out on me. It doesn't help anything," Kayla said coolly.

"She's right, Aiden. I love you for worrying about me, but Kayla is doing what she can," Hope said gently. "Please don't take it out on her."

Aiden sighed, and he turned his attention back to Kayla. "I'm sorry. This is just really frustrating for me, and scary. I just want to know what is wrong so that my wife can get better," he said softly.

Kayla nodded in understanding. "This is hard on me too. She's like a sister to me. Trust me, I will not stop until I figure out what is wrong with her."

"I appreciate that," Aiden said. "Please excuse me." He kissed Hope's hand. "I'll be right back. I'm just going to call Lucas and make sure the twins are doing all right."

"Okay. Please send them my love," Hope said gently.

"I'll send Maxine in to do the blood work," Kayla said to Hope.

Aiden then left the room and headed to the more private waiting room in the hospital. He then dialed up a number he had never thought he'd call again. He was desperate though. Kayla clearly wasn't doing anything, so it was time to get a second opinion.

The secretary answered. "St. Mary's Hospital. How may I help you?"

"This is Aiden Jennings. I need to speak with Dr. Davis right away please. It's very important. My wife is terribly ill and I need him to take a look at her."

"Dr. Davis is in surgery right now, but I can have him call you as soon as he is out," his secretary said kindly.

"Thank you," Aiden replied. He gave his cell phone number in case Marshall no longer had it for some reason. Then, he hung up and went to be with Hope while she got her blood work done. He knew Hope probably wouldn't like seeing Dr. Davis again, and honestly, Aiden wasn't thrilled about it either. But at this point, he felt that Dr. Marshall Davis was the only chance they had of finding out what was wrong with Hope.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

"I feel so guilty going out and having fun when my cousin is sick in the hospital. I haven't even been in to see her. I feel like a rotten cousin," Lucas said on the way to Fun Haven, a new amusement park fifty miles from Salem. It had just opened for the season, and the girls were thrilled when Amanda and Lucas let them take the day off from school to go.

"Don't worry about it. You've been watching the twins for them and that is an even bigger help than visiting Hope in the hospital. There isn't much you could do for her anyway by visiting her. Watching the twins helps much more," Amanda assured him.

Lucas nodded. "I suppose you're right. It's a good thing my son is a writer for a living. He can write wherever he wants to, which allows him to watch the twins and still be able to work."

"It's sweet of him to watch them for you. I'm glad you were able to get this day off," Amanda replied. "I know the kids are going to love it. Liz has been working so hard lately, and I know one day off won't kill her. She deserves a day off."

Lucas was relieved to hear Amanda say that. He had begun to think she was a slave driver when it came to Liz and her school work. "And Ari is only in second grade, so it won't hurt her to miss a day either. Her parents were both just happy to see her getting out and enjoying the day with a friend for once. The poor thing doesn't have many other friends."

Amanda smiled. "It sounds like this day will be good for all of us!"

"I agree!" Lucas said.

The kids then got into the car. They had come from Amanda's house, having going to the bathroom one last time.

"Did you remember to lock the house door, Liz?" Amanda asked.

"Yes, Mamma," Liz said politely.

"Good girl! Now buckle up!" Amanda gently ordered.

"You too, Ari," Lucas called from the front seat beside Amanda who was driving.

Both girls buckled up as told, and soon they were off.

"This is going to be so fun! I've never gotten to play hooky before," Liz said, filled with excitement over the trip.

"What's hooky? A game?" Arianna asked.

Liz laughed. "No, silly, it's when you skip school."

"Oh. Well I love playing hooky too then!" Ari said.

Both girls giggled.

"Don't get used to it. This is only once in a rare while," Amanda warned. Regardless, she had a smile on her face.

Lucas smiled too. This was the side of Amanda that he loved.

"Can we listen to music, Mama?" Liz asked.

"Sure!" Amanda put on a classical station.

"No! Not classical!" Liz groaned.

Amanda smirked. "Okay. How about country?" She turned it to a country station.

"Ew!" Arianna said.

"No country!" Liz agreed.

"Heavy metal?" Amanda continued to tease.

"No!" Lucas was the one to yell this time.

The girls giggled and Amanda smiled.

"Pop!" Liz cried out.

"Pop!" Arianna agreed.

"Oh all right." Amanda pretended to be annoyed, but she secretly loved the sugary bubblegum pop songs her daughter loved. Ari apparently loved them too. Amanda changed the station to a Britney Spears song and the girls instantly squealed in delight and started singing along.

Amanda sang along with them and Lucas smiled, watching his girlfriend sing along with his granddaughter and her daughter. It was a beautiful sight. And even though he much preferred rock to pop, he felt like the luckiest man alive.

 _ **~*came back to me.***_

Hope didn't have hepatitis, but her liver was inflamed and they had no idea why. There were no parasites, no signs on infection, and yet her body seemed to be attacking her. She had to be put on heart medication for her heart and her bladder was still hard to control. Her kidneys were weak, and there was no reason for it that Kayla or any of her colleges could see. "I'll find the cause. I will!" Kayla promised Hope. "It's just that everything is deteriorating so fast. I've never seen anything like this before."

Aiden, however, had had enough. "I want Hope transferred to St. Mary's hospital in Mount Vernon. I have a doctor friend there who is willing to take her on as his patient."

Hope looked at Aiden with wide eyes. "This is the first I've heard of this. Please tell me you're not talking about Dr. Baker."

"I don't like it any better than you do, Hope, but Kayla isn't finding anything, and neither are her coworkers. Dr. Baker said he's seen a case like this before and can help you," Aiden explained. Dr. Baker had gotten back to him an hour earlier. Aiden looked at Kayla. "No offense or disrespect meant to you, Kayla. I know you're doing all you can, but I need to find answers. I'm just not getting them here."

"I think it should be up to Hope," Kayla said, looking at Hope. Aiden couldn't tell if Kayla was annoyed or not.

"When did you talk to him?" Hope asked.

"A couple hours ago. He said you could come in at any time, and he will be there to check you out," Aiden replied.

"I bet he will be!" Hope quipped with a bitter laugh. "I wish you had talked to me about this first." There was no question of the annoyance with her!

"I know, and I'm sorry. I just wanted to contact him as soon as I could. He may be a creep at times, but he is a good doctor. He's been at it for years, and he has a really good reputation," Aiden reasoned.

"Except for those malpractice law suits against him," Kayla quipped. She had heard about them in the paper.

"I got those thrown out," Aiden reminded her.

"It doesn't mean he's innocent," Kayla noted.

"So you don't think he's good at what he does?" Hope asked Kayla, looking worried.

Kayla looked at her and sighed. "I heard he is phenomenal at what he does. He graduated top of his class in both Harvard College and Harvard med school. He's considered a bit of a genius in the medical field. That being said, I simply don't like the man. I've met him a few times and he's never impressed me as a person. After hearing about him hitting on you—at your wedding reception nonetheless—I really don't trust him. But, if he thinks he knows what is going on, then I won't be offended if you go to him to see if he really does know. Just be careful around him. The guy gives me the heebie-jeebies."

"He does to me too," Hope said quietly.

Aiden took Hope's hand in his own. "Baby, I'm sorry I didn't ask you first. If you don't want to go to him I completely understand. But I really wish you'd go. I know it's not ideal, but if he can help in any way to heal you, I really think it's worth the shot." He kissed her hand.

Hope looked into his eyes and saw the worry he held there. She didn't want to worry him, and she really did want to try anything to start feeling better again. She missed being able to feed, kiss, hold, hug, and play with the twins. She also missed having romantic time with her husband. With a sigh, she slowly nodded. "All right. I'll do it."

Aiden smiled. "I'll call and let him know we're coming."

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

"I want to go on that!" Liz said, pointing to the tallest roller coaster Lucas had ever seen. It dipped straight down only to go straight into a loop and then shortly after another loop. It then went down another hill, thought not quite as long as the first one, and then flew through two more loops, before zooming back home.

"I'm up for it, but I doubt Ari would be tall enough for it," Lucas said to her.

"That would make me vomit. I'll stay with her," Amanda offered.

"I don't want to go on it anyway. It looks too scary," Ari said.

"All right. Let's go! We'll meet you at the exit," Lucas said to Amanda.

Amanda nodded. "We'll be here."

Liz happily ran off with Lucas to the entrance. Thankfully, she was a tall girl for her age and just made the height requirement.

"Can I buy that?" Arianna asked, pointing to a nearby shop at the big teddy bear in it wearing a shirt that had Fun Haven written on the shirt.

"I don't think so," Amanda said to her.

"I got money. Daddy and Mommy gave me some," Arianna informed her, assuming that was the reason Amanda wouldn't let her get it; she didn't want to pay for it.

"Teddy bears are for babies. Don't waste your money on trash like that," Amanda said to her. "How about a tee-shirt instead? At least you can be seem in public with it and not be ashamed."

"I don't want a tee-shirt; I want a teddy bear," Arianna said stubbornly.

"Well you're not getting the damn babyish bear, so give it up!" Amanda snapped.

Arianna looked like she was about to cry.

Amanda sighed. She knew she had crossed a line. It was time for a cover up…pronto. "Why don't you wait and make sure that Grandpa Lucas is okay with it first? I'd hate to buy you something he wouldn't approve of."

Arianna sniffled. "Mommy and Daddy both told me to buy whatever I wanted."

"All right. Let me have money and I'll buy it for you," Amanda said, holding out her hand.

Arianna handed her a twenty-dollar bill.

Amanda then walked with Arianna into the shop.

Arianna quickly picked up the bear, a big smile on her face.

Amanda took it from her and brought it to the register.

"That will be ten dollars, please!" the cashier said with a cheery smile.

Amanda handed her the twenty and pocketed the change. She then handed Aria back her bear.

Arianna hadn't even been paying to the price, and had no reason to believe that Amanda would take anything from her. Therefore, she didn't inquire about not getting any change back.

When they left the store, Amanda saw how happy Arianna was with the bear as they sat down together to wait for Lucas and Liz to come off their ride.

 _I guess it will look good if the brat is happy when he comes back_ , she thought to herself. _Plus, I made ten dollars off of it at least._ She smirked at the thought.

Sure enough, fifteen minutes later when Lucas and Liz got off the ride, excited about how fun it had been, Arianna proudly showed her bear off to Lucas. "Look what I got with the money Mommy and Daddy gave me!"

"Wow! So cool!" How much was it?" Lucas asked.

Arianna shrugged.

"It was twenty dollars," Amanda answered for her "I tried to get her not to spend it all on a stuffed bear, but she insisted that it was the only thing she wanted, and her parents told her she could get whatever she wanted."

"Twenty dollars for that little thing?" Lucas asked in surprise. "Sheesh! These amusement parks rip you off nowadays. Man, you'd think we were in Disney at that price!"

"Oo, can we go to Disney World next?" Arianna asked.

"If your parents want to dish out the money, then sure," Lucas quipped. "As for here, it looks like I'll have to pay for your meals today now that you used up all your money." He smiled and stroked her hair regardless. He didn't mind. He loved spoiling his granddaughter. It's what grandparents did.

"I want to go on something just the two of us. How about that?" Amanda pointed to The UFO, which was a stand up ride that spun you around in a circle.

"I guess better now than after we eat!" Lucas joked. He wasn't really into the spinning rides, but Amanda's eyes lit up in such a way that he couldn't turn her down.

Amanda grinned. "You'll be fine." She then turned to her daughter. "Can you watch Arianna while we're on the ride, Sweetie?"

"Sure, Mom!" Liz agreed.

Liz and Arianna sat and waited on a bench by the exit of the ride as Lucas and Amanda got in line to ride the UFO.

"That's a cool teddy bear," Liz said to Arianna with a smile.

Arianna smiled. "Thanks! You should ask your mommy for one too!"

"I want something else. Like a necklace," Liz said.

"Do they sell necklaces here?" Arianna asked.

"Yes, they usually have ones made of colorful shells. Wanna go look?" Liz asked her. "The UFO line is long. We have time."

"Sure!" Arianna agreed.

They then walked a few yards away to a shop that sold all kinds of Fun Haven souvenirs.

Liz found the necklaces right away, and together, she and Ari looked at them. Liz had some allowance money that she had been saving up, so when she found one she liked, she went to purchase it. "Stay right here. I'll be right back," Liz ordered.

"Okay," Aria agreed.

It only took Liz a minute to check out, but when she turned around, she was horrified to see that Ari was missing.

"Arianna! Arianna, where are you?" Liz looked through the whole store in a panic, and didn't see her anywhere. She quickly ran out of the store and back to the bench they were sitting on. Arianna was nowhere to be found.

"Ari! Ari!" Liz was at a full on panic as she looked around the area, trying to find Arianna.

She went back to the bench again, but Arianna hadn't come back like she had hoped she would.

Amanda and Lucas came off the ride then.

"Where's Ari?" Lucas asked right away.

"I don't know!" Liz said in tears.

"What do you mean you don't know?" Amanda asked coldly.

"I went to buy this necklace," she held up the bag. "I told her to stay right there behind me while I paid for it, but when I turned around she was gone. I looked and I can't find her anywhere!"

"Liz! I asked you to do one thing! You were supposed to keep your eye on her at all times!" Amanda scolded her.

"I know! I'm sorry! It was just for a minute! I didn't expect her to wander off," Liz sobbed.

"We've got to find her. Oh my gosh, what if someone took her?" Lucas asked. He had Liz take him back to the store where Arianna was last seen. They looked all around, and all around the surrounding area, but they still couldn't find her, and Lucas was panicked. "We have to find security."

They went to the security booth and informed them of the situation. Soon, every security guard and every park attendant on duty was looking for Arianna.

Finally, one of the security guards had an employee from one of the stores contact him on his walkie-talkie. "I think she's in my store. I see a little blonde girl with glasses and no parents. Looks to be around six or seven."

"That sounds like her," the security guard told her.

"She's at Shirts and Things by The Alienator," the employee told him.

The security guard informed Lucas, and they all quickly headed to the shop.

Finally they found her in the back of Shirts and Things trying on funny hats.

Lucas ran to her and scooped her up. "Arianna what the heck? Why did you run off? We were all worried sick about you! Liz told you to stay with her!"

Arianna started crying. "I'm sorry, Grandpa Lucas! I remembered I had left my teddy bear on the bench, so I went to get it. Then I forgot how to get back to the store, so I looked in other stores. I wandered down here and got distracted by these funny hats. Please don't be mad!"

Lucas sighed. "Next time you need to tell someone if you're going to go wandering off, all right? You should have waited for Liz or told her you were leaving."

"I thought I'd be back before she noticed," Arianna confessed.

"Promise me you'll never run off like that again!" Lucas said to her. "Never ever go off by yourself under any circumstance! Do you understand?"

"I promise I won't," Arianna said with a sniffle. "I understand."

"I'm sorry, Mom, and Lucas. I should have been paying better attention," Liz said, sniffling as well. She felt awful.

"It's okay, Liz. It happens to grown parents sometimes too," Lucas said gently. "What's important is that we found her."

"I'll be more careful next time," Liz promised. She was worried her mother was going to have a fit, but to her surprise, Amanda didn't look angry.

"I'm just glad Arianna is all right. I guess we shouldn't have left her alone with a ten-year-old at a park. Too many distractions!" She gave a little laugh.

"It's fine. Let's just forget this ever happened. Ari, your mom and dad don't have to know about this, all right?" Lucas said to Ari.

Arianna nodded.

Lucas then thanked the security guard, and the guard left.

"Hey, since we're here, why don't we all get a picture wearing funny hats?" Amanda suggested.

Liz smiled. "Okay!" She was surprised her mother was being so good about this, but she wasn't going to complain.

So Amanda wore a big plastic and faux diamond and gold crown, Lucas wore a monkey hat, Arianna wore a princess hat, and Liz wore a dinosaur hat. They all made funny faces, and an employee took the photo for them.

They thanked her, and then headed out of the store.

"How about we all ride on something together now?" Amanda asked.

"The Corn Popper? I can ride that!" Arianna suggested.

"The Corn Popper it is!" Amanda agreed.

The Corn Popper was a ride where you sat in a seat for two and it popped your seat out sideways in the air while moving around in the air in a circle.

They then went on the ride with Ari and Liz sitting together and Lucas and Amanda sitting together. And as they rode together, Lucas fell even more in love with Amanda. Aside from their brief scare, today was turning into a great day. They kind of even felt like a family to him. For once in what felt like forever to Lucas, he finally felt happy again.

 _ **~*came back to me.***_

Hope wasn't thrilled, but she was checked out of University Hospital and transferred by ambulance to St. Mary's Hospital. She was given a room as soon as she arrived, and barely five minutes after she was admitted and put into her room, Dr. Davis appeared.

"Hello again, Hope!" he said somberly. He nodded politely at Aiden. "Aiden. It's good to see you both again. I'm just sorry it has to be under these circumstances."

"Hello. Do you think you can help her? Did you look over her files?" Aiden asked, not wanting to waste any time on small talk.

Dr. Marshall nodded. "Kayla had your records faxed over to me," he told Hope.

"And? Do you think you know what's wrong with me?" she asked, still skeptical of him.

"I've seen this before in another patient of mine a few years back. She had the same symptoms as you. It turned out to be a rare infection that attacks the immune system and the vital organs," he said simply.

Hope turned pale. "Well that doesn't sound reassuring."

"There's no need to worry Hope. Once I was able to target what it was, I was able to reverse the effects. Are you still throwing up?"

"Not as much as I was before, but yes. At least twice a day," Hope answered. "And it's hard to sleep at night because my stomach is always so off. Not to mention I get killer headaches now too."

"I'm going to get an IV in you and I'm going to do some blood work. Most doctors have never heard of this disease before and therefore they don't know what to look for. I'm also going to have a stronger anti-nausea medication put in you. It's experimental, but it has proven very effective in other patients of mine. There is nothing in it that can harm you. It will either work or it won't. It all depends on the person. It will also help with your headaches too. Let me assure you, it has worked for more patients than it hasn't. Of course, I'll need you to sign a waver that I have your permission to give it to you."

"I'm willing to try anything just to get some sleep and stop all this upset stomach nonsense," Hope said.

Dr. Baker nodded. "I'll have my nurse come in in a few minutes."

"I don't know why he can't just tell from the blood work that has already been taken," Aiden grumbled once Dr. Baker had left the room. "I'm sick of everyone treating you like a pin cushion."

Hope sighed. "It's fine. I'm used to it by now. I just want to get this over with and get better. But if he can't help me, I'm going back to Kayla. Got it?"

Aiden nodded. "Of course."

A nurse came in as promised and took some blood work. She also set up the IV.

Dr. Baker came in then and had her sign the waver. Once she had, he administered the drug into her IV. "That should start to work almost right away. As for the blood work, give me by tomorrow morning, and I will be able to tell you if you have the same infection my past client had. If you do, you will have to be in here a week for treatment and observation. After that, you should feel well enough to recover fully at home."

"Lord willing, I have it then." Hope laughed at herself. "Look at me, wanting some rare disease."

"It's better than cancer," Aiden replied. He looked at Dr. Baker. "It's not an irreversible, disease, right? And it's not cancer?"

Dr. Baker smiled. "The answer to those questions would be no and no. I'm sure it's the infection I think it is. I just have to be absolutely sure before I start giving her the medication."

"Can I stay the night on a cot?" Aiden asked Dr. Baker then. "I know I'm probably not supposed to, but I don't want to leave her. Plus, being half hour away from home, it isn't the most convenient to go back and forth."

"Of course. I'll have a cot brought in right away," Dr. Baker said politely. "I'll be in to check on you Hope in a half hour."

"Thank you," Hope said. She was relieved that Aiden would be staying with her. She didn't want to be left alone with Dr. Baker.

"What about the twins?" she asked.

"Lucas will be relieving Will tonight. He said he can stay at our place," Aiden assured her.

"He's been so good to us. We'll have to come up with a way to thank him later when I'm feeling better." Hope coughed violently. Now her lungs hurt. "If I ever get better," she said with a groan.

Aiden kissed her hand. "You will, Baby. I won't stop until you are."

Hope could only hope that he was right about her getting better, because right now, all she felt was like she was dying.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

It had been a fun day filled with rides, games, prizes, good food, laughter, and fun.

When Amanda arrived back at her place, they all exited the car. It was nine, and Arianna was almost falling asleep on the spot. She said goodbye to Liz and Amanda, and then buckled up on the passenger side of Lucas' car.

Lucas kissed Amanda. "Thank you for a lovely day. I'll call you tomorrow."

"Thank _you_!" I had so much fun today," Amanda said, grinning like the Cheshire Cat.

Lucas' grin matched hers. "Me too."

"See you soon, Liz!" Lucas said, gently mussing her hair.

Liz smiled up at him. "See you soon! Goodnight!"

"Goodnight, Sweetheart," Lucas replied before getting in his car, buckling up, then taking off with a wave out the window to Amanda and Liz.

He looked over at Ari, who was sleeping against the window with her teddy bear tucked into her left arm.

Lucas smiled. Today had been such a wonderful day. Amanda and Liz really were starting to feel like part of his family. He smiled even bigger as he looked straight ahead at the rode and drove home. Who knew? Maybe one day they would be.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

"Today was such a fun day and I just love my new necklace!" Liz said as they entered the house. She ran her fingers along the purple, hot pink, and bright blue shells. I was able to find one with all my favorite colors!"

Amanda's eyes suddenly turned dark. "How dare you?" she asked coldly.

Liz was startled. Her mother had been friendly and cheery just moments before. Now she was turning into Miss. Hyde again. She was too scared to speak.

"I asked you to do one thing, Liz. One thing! I asked you to look out for Arianna, and what do you do? You buy that stupid necklace and lose sight of her. Not only did you embarrass me in front of Lucas by losing his granddaughter after I told him how responsible you were, but you made us waste a good chunk of the morning looking for that brat!" Amanda snapped.

"Momma, she's not a brat. She's only seven. She isn't old enough to know better. I should have watched her better. You're right. I'm sorry. But it only took me a minute to buy this, and it is so pretty. I simply couldn't resist it! I love it so much! I didn't think she'd take off on me or I would have made her hold my hand," Liz replied.

Amanda gave her a wicked looking smile. "Yeah, well, I love _Lucas_ so much and you almost cost me the relationship by losing his granddaughter!"

"He was understanding. You didn't almost lose him," Liz said simply.

"Don't you ever talk back to me! Do you hear me?" Amanda snapped. She then reached out and slapped Liz hard across the face.

Liz cried out in pain from both the slap and the long acrylic nails that Amanda had which making the slap even more painful. She started crying as she placed her hand over her cheek. She was slightly bleeding. Amanda had sliced her a bit with her nails.

"And give me that stupid necklace!" Amanda ripped it from her neck, causing it to break into several pieces and scatter across the floor. "If you don't stop wasting your money on junk like that, I'll stop giving you an allowance!"

Liz was sobbing even harder now.

"Oh shut up, Liz! Grow up! You're ten years old. You're not a baby anymore." Amanda nodded toward the broken necklace on the floor. "Now sweep that junk up and empty it in the trash. Then get to bed. You're not skipping another day of school."

Amanda then took off for her own bedroom, leaving Liz to nurse her own wounds both physically and emotionally.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

Aiden sat beside Hope's bedside that night and held her hand while he watched her sleep peacefully. He had been watching her for an hour and she hadn't woken up once to throw up. It was the most peaceful he had seen her sleep in days.

He kissed her cheek, and then went to lie down on his cot. Hopefully this was a good sign that Dr. Baker knew what he was doing, he figured. Aiden closed his eyes. Maybe Dr. Baker was good for something after all…


	93. S4E18

_**This Love…**_

 _ **Season 4 Episode 18: Hazard**_

Casey watched Carol sleeping in his arms. He had stayed with her at the condo the night before since Chase had stayed with Bridgette at her place. Carol looked even more beautiful to him as she slept in his arms so peaceful. When she woke up and fluttered her blue-green eyes opened, he felt as if she were the most beautiful girl he had ever laid eyes on.

She smiled when she saw him watching her. Normally, she would find someone watching her sleep incredibly creepy, but with Casey, it was different. She felt so safe with him. "Good morning gorgeous!" She kissed him sweetly on the lips.

He kissed her hungrily back. "Marry me," he said simply.

She smirked. "Most people just say good morning back."

"I'm serious, Carol. I love you more and more with every day that passes, and I don't want to waste another day with you as simply my girlfriend. I want to know that we'll be together forever."

Carol scooted away from him a bit. "We already discussed this. Even being married doesn't necessarily mean forever. You know that."

"I know, but at least having made the commitment will say something. I already know I have no plans of ever ending our marriage," Casey said, his eyes intently on hers.

"I don't think anyone intends on their marriage eventually ending in divorce," Carol said with a smirk. "But it does."

"Not all marriages. Some people celebrate their fiftieth anniversaries!" Casey insisted.

Carol snorted. "At my age, I wouldn't count on fifty more years."

"Well then we'll do a silver anniversary. More than a silver anniversary. You never know. If we marry now, we could possibly make it to fifty years. Regardless, I'm more than ready for the lifetime commitment," he assured her.

"What's wrong with what we have now?" Carol asked.

"What's wrong is we seem to be stuck in the same place indefinitely," Casey replied.

"But what would change if we got married other than my last name? It's not like I can have kids any longer. I wouldn't even want them if I could!" Carol said simply.

"Being married connects us," Casey replied.

Carol smirked. "We've been connecting just fine without marriage, don't you think?"

"Carol, I'm serious!" Casey whined.

"So am I!" Carol said with a laugh.

Casey frowned. "If God forbid something were to ever happen to one of us, wouldn't you want me or yourself to be the next of kin so that we can make decisions for each other that we wouldn't be allowed to make as mere boyfriend and girlfriend?"

Carol paused for just a moment. "I'm sure we can arrange that without having to get married. I'll ask my brother about how to go about setting that up."

Casey shook his head and got out of bed. "You have an answer for everything, don't you?"

"What is _that_ supposed to mean?" Carol asked, a little annoyed now.

"It means, you don't ever want to get married. You told me you'd keep an open mind about it, but clearly, you have no intention of ever even thinking seriously about it!" Casey snapped. He grabbed some clean clothes from a drawer she had cleaned out for him.

"I told you it wasn't a sure thing; that I needed to think about it. You knew I wasn't ready. I'm still not ready. I never said I for sure would be ready one day," Carol said simply.

"Yeah, well, I don't think you ever plan to marry me, and I don't know if I can be okay with that!" Casey snapped.

"So what are you saying? Are you breaking up with me?" Carol asked; alarmed.

Casey sighed. "I don't know, Carol." He then shot her a nasty sneering look. "I need to think about it."

He turned away from her and headed to the bathroom, and then slammed the door and locked it behind him.

"Casey, come on. Don't be like that!" Carol called out.

The sound of the shower turning on was the only response she got.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

Hope had had the best night she had had in a while. She had slept so soundly and had peaceful dreams throughout the night of her and Aiden being back on their honeymoon, and of the twins running to hug her and calling her mamma. And when she woke up at nine in the morning, she felt refreshed and so good. She didn't feel a _bit_ of nausea.

"Good morning, Beautiful. Did you sleep well?" Aiden had been sitting by her bed, watching her.

She turned to look at him and smiled. "I slept amazing. I think whatever Dr. Davis gave me worked! It actually worked, can you believe it?" She stretched happily. "Gosh it feels good to be alive! I never thought I'd get to feeling this good again!"

Aiden was so relieved he wanted to kiss Dr. Davis. Well, not kiss him, but definitely give him a bear hug and apologize for ever doubting him.

Dr. Davis came in then as if on cue, smiling brightly. "Well, good morning, sleepy head! It's so good to see you finally awake. You were sleeping to well I didn't want to wake you. How are you feeling?"

"So good! Oh Marshall, I'm sorry for ever doubting you. I didn't think you could fix me when Kayla couldn't!" Hope was so happy about feeling good that she had forgotten any creepy vibes Dr. Davis had given her in the past. As far as she was concerned, all was forgiven.

"Dr. Brady is a superb doctor. I can see why you would prefer her over me. But honestly, I study medicines and treatments that most doctors don't even think to study. Some of them don't know certain treatments even exist! Not all doctors are open to experiential drugs either," Dr. Davis said in understanding. He brought his light over to Hope and checked her eyes out. He then listened to her heart. "Everything looks and sounds good. I'm sorry to keep poking you, but I would love to see how your blood work looks now."

"No problem. Here!" Hope offered her arm. "You can test it all you want, but then I'm ready to go home!"

Dr. Davis chuckled. "I bet you are. But I'd like you get some more tests and look at those before I release you. I'm not trying to scare you, but some patients do have relapses. They feel good, then slip right back into whatever is ailing them. But, be rest assured, if you do, all I have to do is give you a couple more doses of the medicine. The fact that it is working already shows that you are very receptive to this treatment. Sometimes it just takes a few doses to get the patient back to normal."

"Couldn't she just take some more anyway as an extra precaution?" Aiden asked.

Dr. Davis nodded. "She could, but medicine is a funny thing. It could end up having the reverse effect and make her feel worse if she doesn't need it. Let me just get some more blood work from her and I also want to do another MRI. If they look good, she can be on her way as early as tomorrow morning." She smiled at Hope and pat her blanket-covered thigh. Don't worry, Hope. You're going to be cured in no time."

Hope smiled weakly. She wasn't thrilled with the prospect of it coming back, but right now she felt so good, she really didn't think it would. "All right. Can we get the MRI done today at least?"

"I'll have a nurse come in and take your blood, and then we can get that MRI done right away. After that, I'll have your lunch brought in," Dr. Davis informed her.

"All right," Hope agreed.

"And as usual, I can get the test results in a matter of hours. Our labs here are much more high-tech, and I own the place, so really I can make anything a top priority if I want to!" Dr. Davis said with a smile. "I'm making you my top priority!" He pat her blanket-covered thigh again.

Hope smiled, and Aiden was glad that finally someone was making Hope their top priority. Kayla was a fantastic doctor, and wonderful to Hope, but Aiden really didn't feel like she had made Hope her top priority. He hoped now they would finally get some results. One could only hope.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

Bridgette was relieved when, after having gone to work that day and telling Starla she was pregnant, Starla promised her that her job would not be effected by the pregnancy. "I think it's a mighty brave thing you're doing, having that baby. I don't think I'd want to," Starla said to her as they stocked the racks before opening for the day. Bridgette had told her about the rape. She hardly knew Starla, and yet, Starla was such a kind person that Bridgette felt comfortable enough to tell her. After all, Starla had given her a job even with no experience in retail.

"I don't believe in abortion. I don't really want a baby, but sometimes we just have to take what life throws at us whether we like it or not," Bridgette said simply.

"Are you going to keep it?" Starla asked.

Bridgette sighed. "Honestly, I don't know. In some ways I want nothing to do with the baby of my rapist. I know it wasn't the baby's fault, but he or she is going to be a constant reminder of what happened to me. On the other hand, am I going to want to give it up after going through nine months of pregnancy and even worse, childbirth? Do I want to go through all that hard work for nothing? What if I fall in love with it once I see it?"

"How does your boyfriend feel about it?" Starla asked with a smile.

Bridgette smiled too. "He's being so good about it. He almost sounds like he wants us to keep it. But a baby isn't a new dog or a new cat. It's a baby who will be ten times as needy as a puppy or a kitten. And Chase is going to be starting school soon and then law school. I'll have this job. I just don't know if either of us are up for it. He says we can make it work, but it's easier said than done."

Starla nodded. "Puppies pee all over the place and chew precious articles of clothing. Not to mention they need constant attention. I'd give my life for my freaking cat, but she can be needy too. Always wanting fed. Food and vet bills are through the roof. Then there is the litter bills and having to change her gross litter all the time. As much as I love her and she is my child, I know a human child would be even more difficult. I don't even know if I ever want human kids."

Bridgette nodded. "It's definitely something to think about. I just want my baby to have a good life. I never want him or her to have to suffer because his father is a rapist."

"I get that. That's what makes you a good person. I could tell you were a good person the day you came here looking for a job. That's part of the reason I hired you. It's hard to find people with pure hearts nowadays. Everyone is out to help themselves. But you think of others, and I love that about you," Starla said thoughtfully.

Bridgette blushed. "And you're the coolest, most down to earth person, and your clothes are equally as cool. They're unique and better than anything else I've ever seen or worn!"

"Stop that! You're going to make me cry and I have way too much eye liner and mascara on for crying," Starla said. She then grinned. "This is incredibly corny, but I don't care. Come here and let me give you a hug!"

Bridgette laughed, and hugged her new boss/friend. For the first time in along time, she felt like maybe, just maybe things would start looking up for her again. She sure hoped so. After all, there was only so much heartache Bridgette could handle.

 _ **~*came back to me*~**_

Casey was working on a construction job, trying not to think of his argument with Carol from earlier. He was more hurt than angry now. He loved her so much and didn't know why she didn't want to marry him. It made no sense to him. Breakups could happen whether you were married or not. He couldn't understand what she was so afraid of. Did she not want to marry him because deep down she knew she didn't want to be with him forever and didn't want to have to go through the complications of a divorce? It was the only thing he could think of. No other reason made sense!

He finished using the power saw to cut the right size board he needed, and then he headed out to the third floor balcony, sat down, and started hammering in first base beam of the wooding railing.

He knew he had said he wasn't going to push her into marriage, but that was when he had thought she would change her mind about not wanting to get married. Now that she didn't seem like she'd be changing her mind ever, it was really making him rethink their relationship.

He finished with the one wooden beam and went to pick up a few more.

He loved Carol with all his heart, but he wanted to get married some day. Most little girls dreamed of their wedding day. Well, as a little boy, even he had dreamed of his wedding day. All he wanted was to find the woman of his dreams, marry her, and spend the rest of his life with her as they made each other happy beyond each other's wildest dreams. Now he was beginning to wonder if his dream would ever come true. He didn't want to lose Carol, but at the same time, he didn't want to lose his dream of being married either.

He hammered in a few more beams to the base, and then headed in to cut the final round of beams to complete the guard railing.

He couldn't imagine his life without Carol, but he also couldn't imagine his life without being married. He wanted to get married. He had never had kids other than Jake, and he was fine with that. But what he wasn't fine with was never having a wife. He didn't just want a girlfriend. He wanted a wife.

Casey walked back out onto the balcony. His mind was so preoccupied with Carol that he didn't realize he had left a wooden beam on the floor that he had forgotten to hammer in.

As much as it would pain him to no longer have Carol in his life, if she wasn't willing to marry him, then maybe they simply weren't meant to be. He had a lot to think about. He felt it was best to cut things off with her now if he was going to do it. He was already in so deep. He couldn't risk breaking his heart worse than it already would be by waiting until he was even more in love with her than he already was. If that were possible.

He stepped forward. With his view obstructed by the beams he was carrying, he didn't seem the beam on the floor. He tripped. He had been too close to the edge of the balcony floor as it was, and with no guard railings up yet other than the base, he flew off the third story balcony and slammed face down onto a car below.

 _ **~*came back to me*~**_

Carol walked around The Horton Square feeling numb. She looked in the jewelry store window and remembered the day Casey had wanted to buy her a ring there. She didn't know what was wrong with her. Why wasn't she ready to marry Casey? She did love him so much. How could she not? He treated her like a Queen and had even given her a kidney for goodness sake!

She sighed, and headed into the park for a walk. None of her marriages had ended well. She didn't want to marry Casey and then have that end up badly as well. She knew better than anyone how hard marriage could be, and how damaging it could be to a relationship. Of course, it could also have the opposite effect, but she wasn't sure she was willing to take that chance. What if she married Casey and they ended up driving each other nuts? What if they divorced and it also ruined their friendship?

She got to a bench and sat down. Marriage was hard work. It was no longer just playing house. It was making a commitment to be with each other for the rest of your lives. It was having to work together and rely on each other for the rest of their lives. Could she be happy with just one man for the rest of her life? Did this deep down stem from not loving Casey enough to want to spend the rest of her life with him? Had she still not found what she was looking for?

Before Carol could answer any of those questions, her cell phone rang. She almost didn't pick up because she didn't recognize the number, but something told her to answer it anyway. She pressed the answer button. "Carol Jennings speaking."

"Hi," a somber sounding voice that she didn't recognize replied. "This is Carl Egbert. I work with your boyfriend Casey."

"Hi, Carl. What can I help you with?" Carol asked cheerily. She wondered why Casey's coworker was calling her. Maybe had felt badly about their argument that morning and was using his friend to set up a romantic surprise for them.

"I'm sorry to be the one to tell you this, Ma'am, but Casey has been in a terrible accident. He was carrying some wooden beams to build a guard railing barrier on the third floor balcony of a house we're working on and he tripped over a beam and fell off the balcony. He landed face down on a car. I'm not trying to scare you, but things look bad. You might want to get to University Hospital right away. That's where they're taking him."

Carol was instantly panicked as she jumped up off the bench. "Is he all right?" She started to get teary-eyed. "Is he dead?" she asked in a shaky voice.

"No, he's alive, but he hasn't yet regained consciousness. Like I said, he looks really bad," Carl replied solemnly. "I just thought that being his girlfriend and all, you would want to know. He had left his phone on the balcony and he never has the lock on, so thankfully I was able to find your number."

"Thank you for calling me." Carol hung up without any further conversation. She was sobbing as she rushed off to her car. If Casey died, she would never forgive herself for their argument. Never!

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

"It feels so good to be able to eat again! And I hate to say it, but the food here is much better than University Hospital's food," Hope said as she ate her meatloaf in bed.

Aiden grinned. "It just tastes better because you're feeling better now."

Hope smirked. "You're probably right."

Aiden took her free hand in his own. "You have no idea how happy it makes me to see you happy and healthy again. When you were sick I felt so helpless."

Hope looked at him and felt all the love for him that she felt in her heart which was overwhelming. "Thank you for making sure I got the best treatment. I never thought I could love someone as much as I loved Bo, but here you are. Don't get me wrong. You're not Bo, and never will be. No one could ever be Bo." She took his hand and kissed it. "But you're still my soulmate. I've been lucky enough to have to in my life when some aren't even lucky enough to have one."

Aiden kissed her hand. "Baby, I've told you many times before and I will tell you again. "I'm the lucky one. After all I did to you, you forgave me twice. It's more than I ever could have hoped for, prayed for, or dreamed of."

"You fell in love with me even though you were paid to pretend to fall in love with me. You fell in love with me for real even though you weren't supposed to. You told a lot of lies, but who doesn't tell lies?" she asked.

"I was going to kill you," Aiden reminded her, feeling the shame all over again.

"Only you couldn't. The only reason you even considered it was because your son's life was threatened. That would make any parent crazy," Hope said kindly.

"But I should have gone to you or another Salem PD member," Aiden insisted.

Hope shook her head. "You were afraid they would kill Chase if you did. Your son's life was in danger and you couldn't think straight. It was like when Bo died. I was so out of my mind with grief, I let an old man in a wheel chair goad me into killing him. All those years of being a cop went out the window. I was trained to keep my cool and respond in an appropriate matter, and yet I killed someone who was of no threat to me. We've both done some pretty messed up things in our lives. What is important is that we move on from them and learn from our past sins and mistakes."

Aiden grinned. "Like you marrying Rafe?"

Hope laughed. "Stop that!"

"But you love me more than you ever loved him, don't you?" Aiden asked. He hated to admit it even to himself, but even to this day, a part of him was still insecure about Rafe.

Hope gently stroked his cheek. "What I had with Rafe wasn't me love. Well, I loved him, but I wasn't in love with him. I had thought I was, but I was just in love with the idea of being in love again. I never thought I'd find love again, so I took what I could find and convinced myself it was love because everyone else told me that it was. But I knew the moment you came back in town that it wasn't love I was feeling for him, but rather what I was feeling for you."

Aiden kissed her softly on the lips. "You're everything I could ever want, Hope."

They didn't realize that Dr. Davis was watching them from outside the door.

Hope hungrily kissed Aiden back. "And you're everything I could ever want my love, aside from my and your children."

Aiden smiled. "Of course! And our children," he agreed. His phone rang then, and he answered when he saw that it was Carol.

"Carol, what's up?"

"Aiden!" Carol sobbed. "I need you right now. They won't tell me what's going on."

"Who won't tell you what? Calm down, Carol. What's wrong?" Aiden was worried at the sound of distress in his sister's voice.

"Casey had an accident at work. He fell three stories off an un-railed balcony face down onto a car. He's in University Hospital right now. His coworker told me it looks pretty bad, but the hospital won't tell me anything because I'm not married to him and I'm not family! I need to know how he is, Aiden!" Carol was frantic sounding.

"Is Kayla there?" Aiden asked. "She'll tell you what's wrong."

"Today's her day off!" Carol sobbed.

"Carol, I'm a half hour away at the hospital with Hope," Aiden said gently.

"Please, Aiden. I know Hope needs you, but I do too. I'm your sister! Doesn't that count for anything? You're a lawyer. I need you to help me get them to tell me how Casey is. And I need you to hug me and tell me everything's going to be all right." Carol sounded like a scared little girl. "I need my little brother. I don't have anyone else. And I'm scared."

Aiden felt his heart breaking for her. And Casey was quickly becoming like family—officially or not. "I'm on my way."

"Thank you. Please hurry," Carol sobbed and then hung up.

Aiden hung up as well.

"What's wrong?" Hope asked, knowing from Aiden's side of the conversation that something bad had happened.

Aiden sighed, then told her what Carol had just told him.

"Oh no! You have to go right now. She needs you. And poor Casey… Go Aiden. I'll be fine," Hope assured him.

"Are you sure?" Aiden asked with worry.

Hope nodded. "I'm going to finish my meal and then maybe watch some TV or take a nap."

Aiden kissed her. "I'll be back as soon as I can."

Hope nodded. "Take your time. Your sister needs you more than I do right now. Send her my love and tell her I'll be praying for Casey. I pray he's all right."

"Thank you. I'll be back soon." Aiden lovingly kissed his wife.

Dr. Davis slipped into another room then so that Aiden didn't see him when leaving Hope's room and heading into the elevator.

Dr. Davis had seen how loving Aiden and Hope were with each other and he didn't like it. He didn't like it at all.

 _ **~*came back to me*~**_

Bridgette and Chase were shopping at the mall where Chase had picked her up after work. They had decided to have dinner in the mall, and then go to a movie. They had had their dinner at a restaurant in the mall, and were now looking around the shops while waiting for their movie, which started in an hour.

"So, Starla is definitely okay with you still working while pregnant?" Chase asked.

Bridgette nodded. "Yes! She was so sweet about it too. I know now more than ever I'm doing the right thing by having him or her." She smiled up at Chase as they held hands. "Thank you for being so good about this and supporting me in my decision to have it."

"Whatever makes you happy makes me happy," Chase said.

Bridgette smiled, and kissed him.

"Do you ever think of keeping it?" Chase asked quietly as they saw a mother pushing a smiling baby in a stroller.

Bridgette was quiet for a moment. "I always wanted to be a mother one day, but I think this may be too soon. I don't know."

Chase led her over to a child's clothing place and pointed to a little preppy outfit in the front window. A little boy mannequin was wearing a white shirt with a plaid vest over it. He had on khaki pants, white socks, and brown penny loafers. The little girl mannequin beside it was wearing a plaid skirt and a white blouse. It was also wearing knee socks and little buckle shoes. "My brother and sister would look adorable in those."

"You should get them! We have time," Bridgette said with a smile.

Chase grinned at her. "I think I will."

They headed into the store and Chase found the pieces of clothing he had seen in the window. "They're a bit too big for them now, but they will be able to fit into them in a few months," Chase said, getting the smallest size available in all pieces.

"Look at this!" Bridgette held up a little pajama onesie that would make whoever wore it look like a dinosaur. "So precious!"

"And this one!" Chase found one just like it only it was a dog onesie.

"Too cute!" Bridgette said. She looked around. "They even have a kitty! These clothes are just too precious."

"If we kept the baby, can you imagine how much clothes we would buy it?" Chase asked.

Bridgette laughed. "We'd buy out the store thinking everything was just too cute to pass up!"

"I think it would be fun having a baby," Chase said simply. "I always wanted to be a dad just like my dad."

"I always wanted to be a mom too. I want to be a good parent just like my dad was. Even my mom was a good parent. My mom isn't a bad person. She just gets involved with the wrong men and therefore acts according to how they want her to act," Bridgette confessed. She rubbed her stomach which was barely even showing her pregnancy. "I hope this child doesn't end up with dead beat parents. I know they screen people, but that doesn't always help. Some kids still get horrible foster parents. It makes me think they could also get horrible adoptive parents. I don't want that for him or her, or anyone for that matter."

"We could guarantee the baby would have a good home if we kept it," Chase said gently.

Bridgette looked at him. "It would be hard work. It is so much harder than just thinking about it. It takes a lot of dedication and sacrifice."

"Together, I think we can do it. I love you, Bridgette, and seeing as this baby is a part of you, I already love it too."

Bridgette got teary-eyed. "That is such a sweet thing for you to say. I love you too."

"It's all true. I know you may not want to keep it because of how he or she was conceived. Maybe you don't want the constant reminder of what happened to you. But I have been reading up on women who are raped and get pregnant but don't get abortions. There are some pretty touching stories about how their little boy or girl means everything to them now and they are glad that at least one good thing came out of such a horrific experience. As a boy in catholic school, I remember the nun saying that God can turn a bad thing into a good thing. He doesn't make bad things happen, but He uses bad things to make good things come out of them. Maybe this is one of those times," Chase suggested.

"I think so too," Bridgette said in almost a whisper. She was quiet for a moment, her hands over her stomach. She then looked up at Chase. "Let's do it! Let's keep it. I mean, in a way this can be good for us. It will help us learn to handle things before we even get married one day. Then when we get married, we'll already be prepared."

"Things can still go wrong even if we have a baby beforehand. People with a kid or kids still break up whether the baby came before or after the marriage. But I think too this could strengthen us. I never want to break up with you. I'm just making sure we're clear that this still a risk," Chase said gently to her.

Bridgette nodded. "I know. But it's a risk I'm willing to take."

"Are you sure? We don't have to decide now. We still have time," Chase said to her, not wanting to push her into anything she wasn't ready for.

Bridgette nodded. "It's not ideal to have a baby before you're even ready for marriage, but it is what it is. I'm sure if you are."

Chase smiled a Cheshire cat grin. "I am _so_ sure!"

"Oh my gosh. We're going to have a baby!" Bridgette said, excited now that she had something to share with Chase. Maybe this was just what she needed to get out of her slump, she hoped.

"Well then, to celebrate we're just going to have to get this even though our baby won't be able to wear it for a couple years." He held up the dinosaur onesie.

"Get the cat one. I like cats best," Bridgette ordered.

"We'll get all three!" Chase said simply, picking up the cat and dog onesies too.

Bridgette laughed. "He or she isn't even born yet and already we're spoiling him or her!

Chase laughed. "He or she will be worth it. I can't wait to tell my dad I'm going to be a daddy!" He headed to the counter to pay for his purchases.

Bridgette smiled as she saw how happy this made Chase. And for once, she finally felt like she was going to see the sunshine again.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

"Aiden!" Carol ran into her brother's arms and cried. "They still won't tell me a thing."

"I called Kayla on the way over. She is going to come to the hospital and see what is going on," he assured her.

"I wish she'd hurry!" Carol cried.

Five minutes later, Kayla arrived. "Sorry I'm late. I was at a dental appointment across town and had to finish my cleaning. I'll go see what's going on." She ran to find her colleagues to get some answers.

"What if he's dead?" Carol whispered. "What will I do?"

Aiden held her tightly to him. "He's not going to die, Sis. You can't think that way." Though, if Casey really did fall face down from three stories high, Aiden knew he couldn't promise Carol that Casey wouldn't die. But he certainly wasn't going to tell her that.

In what seemed like forever, but was actually just over five minutes later, Kayla came back over to them. "He is in emergency surgery now. He has broken a lot of bones and right now they aren't even a hundred percent sure of what all the damage is. He had a lot of head trauma. It was a large fall."

"What are his chances of survival?" Carol sniffled.

Kayla sighed. "Casey is going to be in surgery for a couple more hours. We won't know for sure until he is out of surgery. But don't worry. People have survived from falling from a much higher distance," Kayla tried to reassure her. She didn't tell her that people have also died from lesser falls. There were a lot of different things that factored into the equation. "I'm going to go in right now and help assist with the surgery. I promise to keep you posted."

"Thank you, Kayla. We really appreciate this," Aiden said to her.

Carol nodded and sniffled.

Kayla smiled weakly. "You're welcome." She then hurried off to scrub up for surgery.

"Do you want me to get you something to eat from the cafeteria? Maybe you could even come with me," Aiden said gently to Carol.

Carol shook her head. "No. I need to wait here for news. I can't eat anything until I know he's all right." She sat down in a chair.

Aiden looked at her with worry and was going to try to coax her into eating, when his phone rang. He looked at the caller ID and was surprised to see it was St. Martha's Hospital. He answered it right away. "Aiden Jennings speaking."

"Mr. Jennings? This is Francis Kensington, a nurse at St. Martha's Hospital. "I'm sorry to have to be the one to tell you this, but your wife has gone into cardiac arrest. The defibrillator they used worked on her, but she is in bad shape and she is calling for you."

Aiden felt his whole face turn white and he nearly fainted on the spot. "I'll be right there." He hung up and turned to Carol. "Hope has just gone into cardiac arrest. I need to get back there _now_!"

Carol's eyes widened. "Go!"

Aiden felt bad leaving his sister in such a state, but he had no choice. He quickly rushed out of the hospital praying that he'd get there in time.


	94. S4E19

_**This Love…**_

 _ **Season 4 Episode 19: Creep**_

"Where is she? I want to see my wife!" Aiden yelled as he came barreling into St. Martha's Hospital. All he could think about was Hope and nothing else.

"Who is your wife?" the nurse asked.

"Hope Jennings," Aiden said impatiently.

"She is resting. She shouldn't be having visitors right now," the nurse said simply.

"Well, I'm her husband, and I am going to see her whether you like it or not!" he snapped. He rushed pasted her ignoring her shout for him to come back. He headed to the room he hoped was still hers, and was relieved to see her lying in bed with Dr. Davis hovering over her, taking her vitals. She appeared to be sleeping.

"What happened? She was fine when I left," Aiden hadn't even bothered with a proper greeting.

Dr. Davis turned to him in surprise. "She went into cardiac arrest shortly after her lunch. I told you a relapse could happen."

"You didn't tell me she could go into cardiac arrest!" Aiden was angry that Dr. Davis had let this happen to her. And he seemed so calm that Aiden wanted to smack him. Gone were his good feelings from earlier about the doctor.

"The disease is weakening her heart. You already knew that. Her heart seems to be getting worse. I injected her with more of the medication and now she is stable and sleeping comfortably. The defibrillator helped get her back on track, and the medicine seems to be working as well," Dr. Davis informed him.

Aiden walked over to her and took her hand in his own. He kissed it. "Why is she out cold?"

"Her body just went through a great ordeal. Between that and the medication, she should be out of it for a while now. You may want to go back home for a while and I can call you when she wakes," Dr. Davis suggested to him.

Aiden shook his head. "I'm not leaving my wife."

"She doesn't need visitors right now. She will best recuperate without any distractions. I'm going to have to insist that you leave. You shouldn't even be here. I told the nurses to tell you not to come." Dr. Davis shook his head. "I'm going to have to have a talk with whomever told you to come down. Who was it?"

Aiden ignored his question. "The nurse said my wife was asking for me. I have every right to come down and see her. She is my wife!"

"The doctor knows better than the patient. That is why there are doctors. We know how to treat the patient and the patient doesn't. Now get out of my hospital and go home," Dr. Davis said nastily.

Aiden clenched his fists. "You can't kick me out."

"I most certainly can when your being here is disrupting the healing of my patient," Dr. Davis informed him.

"I'm not disrupting anything. She asked for me," Aiden reminded him.

"And she can see you tomorrow. But right now you need to leave or I will call security to escort you out. It's up to you which way you go, but I promise you, you will go." Dr. Davis was cold and uncaring. There was no more kindness in his eyes.

Aiden had never seen this side of him before, and he instantly saw what a mistake it had been to trust him. "I'm taking my wife out of this hospital and putting her back in University Hospital," he said firmly, his eyes narrowed at Dr. Davis.

Dr. Davis narrowed his eyes at Aiden in return. "I'm afraid I can't let you do that."

"What do you mean, you can't _let_ me? As her husband, I can make any decision I want to make for her!" Aiden snapped.

"If you take her out now, she will surely die. She won't make it through the night!" Dr. Davis said defiantly as he looked Aiden in the eyes.

"Is that a threat, Dr. Davis?" Aiden asked after a pause of shock.

Dr. Davis shrugged. "It's simply facts, Mr. Jennings. Now, what will it be? You leave right now on your own, or I call security?"

Aiden shot him a look to kill, and then kissed Hope's hand again. "I'll be back tomorrow, Baby." He then turned to Dr. Davis. "This isn't the end of this. You're forgetting who you're dealing with." He then took off with no intentions of Hope staying at St. Martha's after tonight. He'd get all of Salem involved if he had to.

Dr. Davis watched with an angry expression on his face as Aiden disappeared into the elevator. "And, Mr. Jennings, you don't realize who _you're_ dealing with," he muttered to himself before injecting a special concoction into Hope's IV again.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

Carol was in agony as she waited for Casey to get out of surgery. Aiden had come back to her just over an hour after he had left.

"How's Hope? Shouldn't you be with her?" she asked.

"She's sleeping for the night, but she'll be fine," Aiden said gently as he hugged her. He had called Shawn on the way home and explained the situation. Shawn was going to be doing a background check on Dr. Davis right away. Shawn didn't like this any more than Aiden did.

In the meantime, Aiden wanted to help his sister. She needed him, and right now, he could use the distraction; otherwise he'd go crazy. He didn't want to pile worrying about Hope on top of Carol's worrying about Casey, so he didn't tell her the part about Dr. Davis refusing to let him stay.

"How is Casey?" Aiden asked.

Carol shrugged. "He's still in surgery. I don't know how much more waiting I can take."

"Have you eaten anything yet?" he asked, his little brother protective instincts kicking in.

She shook her head. "I can't eat until I know he's going to be okay."

"Carol, I know this is going to sound so clichéd, but it's true. You have to eat and keep your strength up so that you can be strong for him." Aiden gently rubbed her back. "How about a sandwich and soup? They even have that Blue Fanta here that you like to drink."

"I'm not hungry," Carol said stubbornly.

"You have to eat least have soup. It doesn't take much appetite for soup. You can't just not eat, or you'll end up in here with him," Aiden insisted.

Carol looked at him with sad eyes. "I might as well be dead if he dies."

It broke Aiden's heart to hear her say that. "Well, I'm sorry but I won't allow that. I need my big sister, and Chase needs his aunt. Not to mention the twins need their auntie to spoil them rotten and love them. Casey's going to be all right. He is in excellent hands. Kayla is the best surgeon around."

"Then why did you send Hope to someone else?" Carol asked.

Aiden's eyes clouded at reminder of Dr. Davis. "I was stupid."

"Carol looked at him in confusion, but before she had a chance to inquire what he meant, Kayla came into the waiting room.

"How is he?" Carol asked, rushing over to her.

Aiden followed by his sister's side, a hand over her back.

Kayla sighed. "Well, he survived the surgery, and it looks like he's going to survive, but he still has a long way to go before he's completely out of the woods, as they say."

"What's the damage?" Aiden asked. He was almost afraid to ask in front of Carol, but he knew that if he didn't ask, she would have anyway.

"He had serious head trauma. He had a concussion, but miraculously there didn't seem to be too much swelling of the brain. He broke nearly all his ribs and his nose as well as his cheek bones on both sides. His legs and arms were broken as well. We had to set everything and now I must warn you, he is in a full body cast except for his hands and feet. He will have to be in the cast for eight weeks just to be safe. He had a little internal bleeding in both his brain and other parts of his body, which thankfully, we were able to stop with the surgery. There doesn't appear to be any brain damage, but we won't know until he wakes up if he will be paralyzed or not. Right now it doesn't look like it, but sometimes you don't know until the patient can tell you him or her self. He'll be out of it probably for the rest of the night with all the anesthesia we had to pump into him, but he should awake by morning for sure. He'll have to stay in the hospital for at least a week for observation. And after the two months is up and his casts are removed, he's going to need months of rehabilitation and physical therapy."

"But he's not going to die?" Carol asked in almost a whisper.

Kayla smiled. "No, he's not going to die. God was looking out for him today, it must be."

"Thank you for saving him." Carol looked like she was about to cry.

Kayla gave her an understanding smile, and placed her hand over her shoulder. "I was just doing my job. Anyway, Casey is a fine young man. I'm just glad he was able to survive that fall. Some aren't so lucky." Kayla replied. She was called off to help another patient then, but she promised that Carol could go see Casey in his room as long as she kept it quick and understood that he would be sleeping.

"Do you need me to go with you?" Aiden asked Carol as he placed a hand over her shoulder. Chase just texted me. He wants to talk to me about something, but I can come in with you first if you'd like me to."

Carol smiled at him. "I'm fine. Go ahead. Thank you for being here for me and for getting Kayla to come in to work."

Aiden hugged her tightly. "It's what little brothers are for. Hang in there. I'll come visit Casey tomorrow. Promise me you'll eat something now that you know he's going to be okay?"

Carol nodded. "I will." She kissed his cheek. "I love you Gatoraide."

Aiden smiled, and kissed her cheek. "I love you to, Sweet Caroline."

"Shut up you dork," Carol said with rolled eyes. But her smile betrayed her.

Aiden grinned, and then left to go meet Chase at The Brady Pub.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

Lucas arrived for dinner with Amanda. He had even brought her a half dozen red roses as a surprise. He rang her doorbell and Amanda answered wearing the most stunning red dress he had ever seen. He whistled. "Wow. You look amazing."

She smiled, and tucked some hair behind her ear. "Thank you." She nodded at the flowers. "Are those for me?"

Lucas nodded. "Indeed they are! They unintentionally match your dress!" he said with a laugh as he handed them to her.

"Red is my favorite color," she said to him with a smile and a wink. "Come in." She stepped back and allowed him into the house. She then kissed his cheek and shut the door. "I'll go put these in some water, and then we can be on our way."

"Okay, cool," Lucas agreed.

Suddenly, Liz came down the stairs and smiled big at Lucas. "Hey, Lucas! How are you?"

"Hi, Liz!" Lucas winced when he saw the long red scratch down Liz's face. "What happened to your cheek?"

Liz blushed. "A cat scratched me. I went over to a friend's house and she had a mean cat." It was the story Mandy had told her to use, and Liz knew better than anyone not to defy her.

"Ouch! That's why I've always been more of a dog person. Cats are too temperamental. Did you put something on it? It looks pretty nasty," Lucas said, worried.

"She's fine. I put some aloe on it last night. It will be gone in a few days," Amanda said, coming into the room. She turned to Liz. "I told you not to go petting cats you don't know too well." She then turned her attention to Lucas. "It was a new cat her friend had just gotten, and my daughter, or course being the animal lover that she is, just had to pet it." Amanda rolled her eyes.

Lucas laughed. "That's okay. I get it. Arianna is the same way."

Liz' face lit up. "I can't wait to play with her again."

"We'll get together on Friday I promise," Lucas assured her. "In the meantime, stay away from cats!" he teased her with a wink and a smile.

Liz smiled weakly. "I'll try."

Amanda cleared her throat. "Why don't you go upstairs and finish your school project? I'll check on it tomorrow."

Liz nodded. "Yes, Mother." She smiled at Lucas. "See you later, Lucas."

Lucas smiled at her. "See you later, sweetie."

Liz then disappeared upstairs just as the babysitter arrived. They greeted her, and Amanda gave her some quick instructions, and then they were on their way to the restaurant.

Lucas opened the car door on the passenger side for Amanda, but she shook her head.

"We can take my car. I'll drive. It's a little ways from here and I know where it is; you don't," Amanda insisted.

Lucas nodded. "All right." So, they got into her car, and soon were on their way.

Ten minutes into the trip, Amanda was telling him how wonderful the food was, and what she felt he should order. They also discussed the night club they would be attending afterward.

Suddenly, a car cut them off.

"What the hell? That ass hole!" Amanda laid on the horn, and then started speeding up to catch up with him.

"You might want to slow down a little," Lucas said gently, noticing that she was now going seventy in a fifty-five zone.

She ignored him and continued to chase the car around twists and turns until finally the guy had no choice but to stop, for a red light had come along. Lucas had to give the guy credit. If someone had been chasing him the way Amanda was chasing this guy, he'd have just ran the red light and paid the consequences later.

Amanda stopped at the red light as well, and to Lucas' great horror and surprise, she got out of the car and headed over to the car that had cut her off. She tried to open the guy's door, but it was locked. "What the hell do you think you're doing, you jackass? You could have killed us!"

She had added some curse words into the mix, and Lucas was suddenly very embarrassed. He hoped that no one could see into Amanda's car. He sank down low in his seat just in case.

The light changed then, and people were beeping at her.

Amanda pounded on the guy's windows so hard that Lucas was afraid she'd break them. Then suddenly the guy sped off, nearly running over her toes.

She held up both middle fingers and screamed more curse words at him before she got back into her car. "Can you believe some people? My gosh, I could have killed him. He's just lucky his door was locked. Otherwise, right about now he would be _very_ much regretting cutting me off."

Lucas sat up straighter in his seat, glad that it was over, though now a little frightened of Amanda. He had gotten glimpses of her temper before, but this was just crazy.

"I think I'm going to start carrying a baseball bat in my car," she muttered.

"For protection?" Lucas asked her weakly.

"No," she said, looking straight ahead at the road. "For the next time someone cuts me off and has his door locked."

Lucas laughed, hoping that she was joking, but she didn't even crack a smile. She just kept staring straight ahead at the road.

Lucas cleared his throat and looked out his window. Well, so far this wasn't a night he hadn't been expecting! He just hoped she didn't continue to surprise him more throughout the night…

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

"Thanks for meeting me, Dad. I know you have a lot going on as it is. How's Hope doing?" Chase asked as he and his father sat down together in a booth at The Brady Pub.

Aiden sighed. "It's a long story, Son. We still don't know exactly what's up with her. I'm starting to think not even Dr. Davis knows what he's doing. She went in to cardiac arrest today."

Chase's eyes got wide. "What? Is she okay?"

Aiden nodded. "The defibrillator got things back to normal. She is stable now. It happened when I was with your Aunt Carol today. Did she tell you about Casey?"

Chase nodded. "This is not a good time for our family."

"Tell me about it! At least he's going to be all right. He's going to have to go through months of therapy though, and have a full body cast on for two months before that," Aiden explained.

"That's gotta suck," Casey quipped.

Aiden nodded. "I have no doubt I'd go insane if it were me. Anyway, Dr. Davis seems to have a bit of a crush on your stepmother. He has asked her more than once to leave me for him," Aiden explained. "Including at our wedding reception."

"Are you serious? That's sick!" Chase replied in horror.

Aiden nodded. "I know, right! I was desperate when I went to him. Kayla wasn't helping her, but I thought for sure he could. Hope did seem to be getting better right away until she had this setback. Dr. Davis said that is common sometimes, and that she just needs more time on the medication until she is a hundred percent better. But I swear she was fine before I left her this morning, then just over a half hour later I get the call that she went into cardiac arrest. It just seemed to come upon all too quickly. And then to add to my suspicions, Dr. Davis won't let me see her until tomorrow. He said that even though she had been asking for me, by my being there with her, it would hinder her getting better."

"Well that's a crock if I ever heard one! You should have told him to screw off! He just wants her alone," Chase said, angry for his father.

Aiden nodded. "That's what I'm beginning to worry about. He said if I tried to move her to another hospital, she would surely die. It sounded like a threat to me and he didn't deny it."

Chase's eyes were wide. "You have to get her out of there, Dad."

Aiden nodded. "Believe me, I will. Tomorrow morning she will be back at University Hospital, mark my words."

The waiter came then, and they gave him their drink orders. They then looked over their menus.

Once they had ordered, Aiden turned his attention back to his son. "So what is it you wanted to talk to me about?" he smiled. "Good news I hope?" He sipped his coffee.

Chase smiled and nodded. "I'm going to be a dad!"

Aiden nearly spit his coffee out. "Come again?"

"Well, it's not my baby. Bridgette doesn't want people to know, but she gave me permission to tell you. She was raped a few months ago by the owner of Neverland, who was also the male manager.

His trial is in a couple weeks. She got pregnant by him, and she doesn't believe in abortion. She didn't know if she wanted to keep it, but she and I both decided to turn something bad into something good, so we're going to raise it together." Chase smiled proudly, thinking his dad would be thrilled for him. But the smile quickly wiped off his face at Aiden's response.

"Are you out of your mind?" Aiden asked him.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

"What do you mean, am I out of my mind? I thought you'd be happy." Chase frowned.

"You two are still kids. What do you know about raising a baby?" Aiden asked.

Chase rolled his eyes. "Dad, I'm twenty-three-years old. I'm far from a child. A lot of people have more kids than one at my age."

"You're a lot farther away from being an adult than you think," Aiden informed him. "And those people raise their own children. Not some baby conceived out of rape."

"I was a rapist once. Had I gotten Ciara pregnant, would you have wanted nothing to do with that baby either?" Chase asked.

"Ciara probably wouldn't have even wanted it," Aiden said simply.

"That's not answering the question," Chase said, shooting his dad a look to kill.

Aiden sighed. "I don't know. I might have felt differently because it would be my grandson, and neither you nor Ciara are psycho. But biologically, I have zero ties to Bridgette whatsoever. As for the scum who raped her, I have absolutely no idea who he is, but he must be a rotten person to have raped her. Not to mention he's a sleaze for running and owning a strip club.

"It may not be the most respectable place, but it's not a place that one should be considered a sleaze for running or owning. Did you forget I once worked as a dancer there? Bridgette too? Did you think I was a sleaze too?" Chase was angry now. He cold not believe how judgmental his father was being. Though true, Max was the scum of the earth, but it wasn't because of what he did for a living. "I guess I didn't tell you, I'm also co-manager now. I'm saving up money for college and law school so I took Max's job."

Anger flashed in Aiden's eyes. "I told you I'd pay for those!"

"I want to do at least some of this on my own, Dad. I also want Bridgette's friends to know without a doubt that they don't have to fear who looks after them." Chase truly was hurt. "So do you think I'm a sleaze now? Do you think Bridgette is trashy? She used to work there before I ever did."

Aiden looked his son in the eyes. "I stand corrected. Obviously just because you work there doesn't make you sleazy or trashy. As for the baby, I just want you to be careful. You never know what you're going to get when you adopt. Especially when you have a father like Bridgette's rapist. You'd be surprised at what traits one can inherit. It's not only physical traits one inherits."

"We will raise him to be nothing like his father. I may be a rapist, but I'm a reformed rapist, and I will make sure that my son or daughter never becomes one," Chase assured him.

"Sometimes you can't stop these kind of things. I would know," Aiden said.

"Nice, Dad," Chase said, still hurt.

"I didn't mean it as a blow, and you know it." Aiden sighed. "You're going to be busy with school, Chase. And didn't you say Bridgette has a new job? Not to mention _your_ new job. When are either of you going to be able to fit a child into your schedule? You barely have time to babysit your bother and sister from time to time!"

"We'll work it out, Dad," Chase assured him. "It won't interfere with my schooling, I promise."

"Are you going to move in together? Carol will need to know if you are." Aiden was not pleased.

Chase shrugged. "We'll probably stay at Bridgette's apartment. I'm sure Casey will soon be living in the condo anyway. He can pay half the rent instead of me."

Aiden shook his head. "Well, I can't allow you to do this. It's not going to be a cake walk like you seem to think."

Chase shrugged. "No one thinks it's going to be a cake walk, Dad. And I'm not asking your permission. I just want your blessing."

"I'm sorry, Son, but I can't give you that." Aiden was half tempted to threaten to revoke the money for Chase's college and law school if Chase didn't give up the baby idea, but he knew which option Chase would pick, so he didn't dare.

"Then I'm sorry too," Chase said.

"Can we just agree to disagree and still be on good terms despite our disagreement?" Aiden asked. He had enough on his plate without having to worry about being estranged from his son too.

Chase sighed. "Sure. I really hope that Hope will get better. Casey too. You need to get rid of this Dr. Davis loser."

Aiden nodded. "Believe me, I will. After tomorrow, he will never again be a part of our lives."

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

"So what did your dad say?" Bridgette asked as soon as Chase arrived back at her apartment. He had had a decent meal and conversation with his father, and then they had parted ways.

Chase sighed. "He wasn't happy. He thinks we have too much going on, and he doesn't think I should take on the responsibility of a rapists' baby," he said honestly.

"I can understand that. He's a good dad for being concerned," Bridgette replied. "You know, it's not too late to change you're mind. Maybe he's right. Maybe this is too much responsibility."

Chase shook his head and took her in his arms. He kissed the top of her head. "No. I want to do this. Don't you?"

Bridgette nodded. "I'd love to have a baby with you, but if this is too much for you, I can just as easily put him or her up for adoption."

"Nope! He or she is ours and nothing is going to stop him or her from being ours," Chase said happily. He kissed her on the top of the head again.

Bridgette smiled happily. "From your lips to God's ears."

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

Carol had nearly broken down when she saw Casey in his full body cast. She had thought she had prepared herself for it, but there was really no way to prepare herself for the shock. All she could see were his hands, and his closed eyes. His eyelids looked black, purple, and red from all the bruises and scrapes. She had tears in her eyes, and she longed to hold him in her arms, but she knew she couldn't. "Please get better, my love. If you do, I promise I'll marry you. No more hesitation. I'm sorry about our fight! It was all my fault. I was just so afraid of losing you, and now look what happed. I nearly lost you anyway without ever having had the honor of becoming your wife. I'm sorry. I truly am _so_ sorry, but I'm going to make it up to you. I promise I'll take care of you and help you get better, and as soon as you are, I'm going to marry you. Mark my words. And don't worry. I'll let Jake stay with me. You can too once you're well enough to come home. She leaned down and kissed his hand. "I better go walk Jake now. I'm sure he must have gone all over the floor by now. I'll clean it up and walk him. I'll even let him sleep on the bed with me once he and I get back to my place." She stared at him longingly. "Goodnight, honey. Sleep well. I will see you in the morning." She blew him a kiss, and then left to pick Jake up, finally looking forward to the day she'd become his wife.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

Hope woke up feeling like she had been run over by a Mack truck. She stretched, wincing a little at the pain. Everything ached. Surprisingly though, her stomach felt all right. She saw Dr. Davis staring down at her. "Where's my husband?" she asked.

"He is busy with his sister and said he won't be able to come back down to see you until tomorrow morning," Dr. Davis said simply.

"Wasn't he informed I had a heart attack?" It had been the scariest moment of her life. She had never felt so much pain in her life. Her heart had felt like someone was trying to rip it out of her chest. All had gone black after that, and then she remembered waking just long enough to remember Dr. Davis telling her what had happened and that she was going to be all right, and then she had fallen back asleep.

She glanced at the clock on the wall. It was after two in the morning now.

"I told him, but he said his sister really needed him," Dr. Davis lied.

"I hope Casey's all right." Hope was worried. She looked at Dr. Davis. "His sister's boyfriend fell from a three-story balcony. He landed face down on a car."

Dr. Davis did is best to look concerned. "Oh no! I pray he's okay. It wasn't too far of a fall. He has a decent chance of survival since the car broke his fall."

"I'm just surprised Aiden didn't want to be with me after he heard I'd had a heart attack," Hope said. "I thought he'd be worried." He had been so concerned up until then.

"I'm sure he just wants to be there for his sister," Dr. Davis assured her. He then injected something into her IV.

"What did you just inject me with?" Hope asked.

"It's just a sleeping aid to help you sleep through the rest of the night. Your body needs sleep to heal. I also added some more medication," Dr. Davis explained.

"All right. Thank you for taking such good care of me," Hope said with a happy yawn.

Dr. Davis smiled. "It's my pleasure."

Hoped was out cold again within minutes.

"It's my pleasure in more ways than you know," Dr. Davis then said to her sleeping form. He walked over and shut and locked her door, and then pulled the window blinds down. Then, he walked back over to Hope's bedside and slipped his hand underneath her hospital gown, feeling her breasts. He moaned as he unzipped his pants as he let his free hand take over on his own body. Soon, he would have more than just fondling her. He smiled as he moved his hands downward from Hope's breasts to the other end of her body. Soon he would be able to make love to her with her consent. She would agree once she knew what was at stake. He was sure of it. But until then, a little touching never hurt. After all, what she didn't know, couldn't hurt her…or him.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

"I can't believe we stayed out dancing until two in the morning!" Amanda whispered to Lucas as they entered her house.

"I feel bad for the sitter," Lucas replied. He grinned. "But it was fun!" He had had such a wonderful dinner with Amanda. She had laughed at all his jokes and even made him laugh with her stories of old jobs she had had, and stories of Liz when Liz was little. The food had been the best he had ever had, and the dancing had been so much fun. So many good songs were played, and the club had even had a bubble pit. He had had so much fun that he completely forgot about the earlier incident of Amanda losing it over being cut off.

"It's okay. She said we can stay out as long as we'd like," Amanda said.

They came home to Liz already in bed, and the sitter watching a horror movie on TV.

Amanda paid her and apologized for being so late. They made small talk for just a minute, and Amanda thanked her before she left. The sitter didn't seem to mind at all about the late hour. After all, she charged by the hour.

"I guess I'm going to be going home now," Lucas said to Amanda. He kissed her softly on the lips. "I'll call you tomorrow. I really had fun tonight."

Amanda smiled. "Who says the fun has to end at the club?" she purred as she wrapped her arms around him and played with his hair.

"But what about Liz?" Lucas asked.

"She's such a sound sleeper that an earthquake wouldn't wake her up," Amanda replied. She began kissing down the side of his neck. "Besides, she's at the total opposite end of the hall than I am."

He moaned. "Are you sure?"

" _So_ sure! Now come on up to my bedroom and make love to me," she ordered.

Lucas never was any good at turning down an invite from a beautiful woman to make love to her. He smiled. "Lead the way!"

She grinned at him, took his hand, and led him up the stairs.


	95. S4E20

_**This Love…**_

 _ **Season 4 Episode 20: Delicate**_

"I want you to tell me what you think of Dr. Davis. I think he is doing your mother more harm than good," Aiden said to Shawn as they traveled together to visit Hope.

"Did he really hit on her at your wedding reception?" Shawn asked.

Aiden nodded. "And that wasn't the first time. He'd apologize to her, but then he'd keep thinking of reasons to see her again. She'd agree to meet him, and then it would start all over again."

"My mom usually has better instincts than that," Shawn stated.

Aiden nodded his agreement. "But your mother also likes to look for the good in people. You'd be surprised at how charming Marshall can be. But lately I've been seeing another side of him. One that I don't like that all. I never should have been so stupid as to have Hope transferred to his hospital. It's just that Kayla wasn't doing anything to help her and your mother was so ill, I was desperate to try anyone and anything to get her back to normal."

"I know you only did what you thought was best for my mother, but honestly, Aiden, the guy is a creep from what you told me. Wasn't there any other doctor in Salem or on the outskirts of Salem that you could get other than Doctor Davis?" Shawn asked.

Aiden sighed. "I could have found someone, but Dr. Davis is known for being a brilliant doctor. Even Kayla admitted he's the best in his field."

"But isn't he the one who had all those malpractice suits?" Shawn asked, an eyebrow raised.

Aiden looked down at his lap; ashamed. "He is. I didn't think there was any truth to them. I thought he just had a lot of disgruntled patients." He looked at Shawn. "Dr. Davis is a very convincing man. He assured me that his patients blamed him unjustly."

"I just wish you had had more sense. I mean, you're a lawyer for gosh sakes. Shouldn't you be able to read people better?" Shawn understood where Aiden was coming from, but he still couldn't help but be a little annoyed.

"I'm human, all right? I make mistakes just like the rest of us." Aiden felt terrible enough as it was without Shawn having to rub it in his face. He didn't hold it against Shawn though. He knew he was just concerned about his mother, as he should be.

"Lord knows you do," Shawn muttered.

Aiden looked out the window feeling hurt. He wondered if he would ever hear the end of it. What he had done to Hope had been horrible, he knew. But he still felt that sometimes people were too hard on him. He felt guilty enough without their guilting him about it every day. He had seen people in Salem forgiven for much worse crimes.

"Look, I'm sorry, all right?" Shawn said quietly after a moment. "I don't mean to dredge up the past. I guess old habits die hard. I know how much you love my mother, and that you were just doing what you felt was best for her at the time."

Aiden nodded. "I was, and now I'm going to set things right again with your help."

"Well, I'm certainly not going to let that son of a bitch turn us away today," Shawn said as he pulled into the hospital parking lot. He's not going to keep her own son away from her. Especially not when I'm an officer of the law."

They got out of the car and made their way into the hospital.

The nurse recognized Aiden right away, and stood up as if to stop him from heading to his wife's room. "I'm sorry, Sir, but you can't see her. She is in really bad shape today and Dr. Davis insisted that there be no visitors."

"I bet he did! Well, tough! He can't legally stop be from seeing my wife," Aiden replied.

"Actually, he can. He owns the hospital, and he is her doctor, so he can do whatever he pleases," the nurse said grouchily.

Aiden looked like he wanted to throddle her. He looked at Shawn.

Shawn held out his hand to him to calm him, and walked over to the nurse. He flashed his badge. "Shawn Brady, Salem PD. I am Mrs. Jennings' son, and I know for a fact that she would love to see both her husband and me. As a member of the police department I can overrule both you and the good doctor." He said the words 'good doctor' sarcastically. "Now if you'll excuse me, we're going to go see her. Try to stop me, and I will get the local PD over here to tell us which one of us is right."

The nurse had clearly been put in her place. "Go on ahead then. There's no need to get hostile."

Shawn smiled. "I knew you'd see things my way." He clipped his badge holder back onto his pocket, and then he and Aiden headed into Hope's room.

Shawn and Aiden were both startled when they saw Hope. She was deathly pale. In fact, her skin looked grey. Her lips had a blue tint to them, and had it not been for the heart monitor still beeping away, they would have thought she were dead.

"Was she this bad the last time you saw her?" Shawn asked in almost a whisper, tears filling his eyes. He looked at his mother in terror.

"No." Aiden shook his head, getting choked up as well. He ran to her and held her hand. It was so cold. He kissed it, and then warmed it between his hands. "She was sitting up and said she felt normal again. We were talking about her possibly coming home."

"I need to see this Dr. Davis now," Shawn said angrily.

"Did I hear my name?" Dr. Davis walked into the room. "I told the nurse no visitors."

Shawn turned angrily to him. "Yeah, well that doesn't apply to her husband or her son."

"I'm afraid it does. Your mother is deathly ill, and she simply can not have visitors right now. It is detrimental to her health," Dr. Davis said firmly.

"How is it detrimental to her health to have her loved ones here to support her?" Shawn asked, fists clenched.

"Her immune system is rapidly weakening. Any contact with the outside world is a risk to her. If she catches anything from anybody she will surely die," Dr. Davis said simply.

"What about you? I highly doubt you haven't left this hospital in two days," Aiden asked angrily. "She could just as easily contract something from you."

"I am her doctor. I know the right precautions to take," Dr. Davis answered smartly.

"That's funny, because you aren't wearing a mask, and right now you don't even have gloves on," Aiden replied just as smartly.

"What the hell did you do to my mother anyway?" Shawn asked. "You must have done something because she was fine just yesterday morning, according to Aiden. Now suddenly she looks as if she is dying."

Dr. Davis nodded. "That's because she _is_ dying. As I said, her immune system is shutting down, as are her vital organs."

Aiden grabbed him by the lapels. "What did you do to her, you son of a bitch? I know you did something to her. I'm not buying this relapse garbage. Nobody goes from healthy to dying overnight!"

"Aiden, calm down! I'll handle this." Shawn pulled Aiden away from the doctor.

"You better keep your stepfather in check or I will call the cops!" Dr. Davis said to Shawn.

"I _am_ the cops," Shawn said.

Dr. Davis paled for just a second, then regained his composure.

"Now I know my mother can't possibly be dying. I'm taking my mother out of here right now, and she is going to go back to Dr. Brady where she belongs." Shawn said, his eyes boring into Dr. Davis' to show him that it was not up for discussion.

"If you take her out now, she'll die. Your mother's health is rapidly failing and I can get her better, but if you try moving her now, even by ambulance, she'll never make it," Dr. Davis insisted.

"Well, then I'm going to have Dr. Brady come here and look over her records," Aiden said defiantly. He took out his cell phone.

"Fine. But she's just going to tell you the same thing I am," Dr. Davis said with a shrug. He then took off out of the room with a disgruntled look on his face.

Aiden and Shawn looked at each other with worry, and then Aiden went off to make the call to Kayla. He knew she'd get to the bottom of this. He just hoped it wasn't too late.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

Bridgette stopped in her tracks when she opened up the door having just come home from work. There was a crib in the middle of the living room that Chase was currently assembling. She covered her mouth and smiled. "What are you doing?"

Chase grinned at her. "I'm building our baby's crib! Sorry. I was going to try to surprise you and have this up by the time you got home, but it's a lot harder than it sounded."

Bridgette set her purse down and laughed. "Don't you think it's a little early for buying a crib?" she asked, amused.

Chase shrugged. "He or she is going to need a crib when they're born. "Now's as good a time as any." He looked at the instructions again. "These might as well be written in Chinese."

Bridgette smirked. "Here. Let me take a look at them." She walked over to him and got down onto her knees beside him. She took the instructions and read them over. "Hm…" She bit her bottom lip, then took the Philips screwdriver and undid one thing Chase had done, and screwed something else in its place. "You were trying to put the base end where the front end is supposed to be," she explained.

"I didn't think it mattered which end went wear on a crib. Both sides looks the same to me," Chase said.

"The front is padded on the outside and the back isn't," Bridgette explained. "Here." She took the other side of the crib and Chase watched in amazement as she finished setting up the crib in five minutes. She smiled proudly at her work when she was done.

"How on earth did you do that so quickly?" Chase asked. His ego had been bruised.

Bridgette clapped a hand over his shoulder. "Don't feel so bad. When my dad was alive, we used to build stuff together all the time. It was a hobby we shared. We even built a tree house together when I was nine."

"Your dad sounds like he was a pretty cool guy," Chase said, standing up, and then offering his hand to help Bridgette up.

She smiled and let him help her up. "He was the best! He was the kindest, most caring man I ever could have asked for in a father. My mother was very kind and caring too. But after he died, I think a part of my mother died with him. She became quite and withdrawn. I tried to be there for her. I knew she needed me as much as I needed her. But she was just never the same again. She became more withdrawn and never wanted to hang out with me anymore. Then she started dating Hank. He was a loser right from the start. He's a major alcoholic and I know he hits her, but she'll never do anything about it. They eloped in Vegas after having known each other for only a month. She became even more reserved then. She's now only a shell of the woman she used to be when my dad was alive," Bridgette said. She sniffled. "It breaks my heart,"

"How did your dad die?" Chase asked gently. "You never really said. If you don't want to talk about it you don't have to. I'm sorry. I don't mean to be rude. I'm just curious."

Bridgette shook her head. "You're not rude at all. It's a normal thing to wonder." She looked away, getting teary-eyed as she thought about it. "He was on his way home from working the late shift. He was an undertaker at the cemetery. It sounds really creepy, but it paid well, and he loved making sure that people's final resting places were taken well care of after death. He'd always say everyone deserves respect even after death. It was late, and he must have been tired. From what I gathered between what both the police and what the driver or the truck as well as other witnesses have said, they believe he fell asleep on the road. His car ventured from his lane into the passing lane. The truck driver tried to stop but he couldn't stop in time. My dad's car came out of nowhere." Bridgette took a moment to compose herself. "The officer on duty said that he died on impact." She sniffled, and then looked at Chase. "He was a very religious Baptist, so I know he's in Heaven at least. Even so, I still miss my dad every day."

Chase held her close and gently stroked her hair. "I'm so sorry, Honey." He kissed the top of her head. "You're so strong. I don't think I could bear it if that happened to my dad. Heck, when I thought he died, I went crazy."

"That's part of why I wouldn't abort my baby. My dad was totally against abortion. He'd take me to church a lot of times and I liked what the pastor had to say. I may not go to church as much as I should, and I may not follow the religion as closely as he did, but I still feel like I am a Baptist too. So, out of respect for my father and my own beliefs, I just couldn't do abort the baby," Bridgette explained.

Chase nodded. "I don't really believe in it either, being catholic. I just didn't want to tell you what to do under the circumstances."

Bridgette nodded. "I know I'm making the right decision. I just wish my dad could be alive to see him or her."

"You can make sure to tell him or her all about his or her granddaddy when he or she is old enough to understand," Chase said to her with a smile.

Bridgette smiled too. "I most definitely will. But for now, let's go eat. Both the baby and I are starving. And we might as well pick up a mobile to go with that crib, right?"

Chase grinned. "I like the way you think!"

Bridgette laughed.

They kissed, and then headed out the door.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

Meanwhile. Carol sat by Casey's bedside. She was a little worried because he hadn't woken up yet, but the doctors assured her that his body was healing and that it needed sleep to heal. Even so, she had overheard some nurses talking in the hallways. They had said in whispers that if he didn't wake up within the day, it could mean he had some brain damage after all. It had scared the hell out of her. So much so that she had gone to the hospital's chapel and said a prayer for him. She wasn't too much of the praying kind, but she did believe in God and Jesus even if she wasn't into the whole organized religion thing. She made a pact with God that if he were to let Casey come out of this with no permanent damage, she would go to church weekly and make sure Casey would too once he was feeling up to it. She would become a better Christian. She wasn't quite sure if God made pacts like that, but just in case He did, she was wiling to try anything. And if Casey got out of this with no permanent damage, she fully intended on keeping her side of the deal.

Now, as she squeezed Casey's hand, she could only pray he'd wake up soon.

"I'll take care of you if you have brain damage, you know. Well, I guess that depends on how much help you'll need. If you're a total invalid, then sorry, it's time for me to move on. But I'll take care of Jake for you. The mutt has grown on me." She grinned. "I'm just teasing you. You're not going to have brain damage, and even if it you did and it were severe, I'd still want you in my life. I really do love you despite my earlier reservations about marrying you. Jake misses you, you know. I know dogs aren't usually allowed in hospitals, but I was thinking of trying to get special permission to get him in here to visit you. I really think his being here would help you. He cuddled up with me last night in bed. He stayed the whole night too! He smelled like ass, but I let him stay since he reminded me of you. Not the smelling like ass part. You smell a lot better than he does. I guess I'll have to bathe him when I get the chance." She grinned. "I meant, lying next to someone you love is the next best thing to lying with you."

The nurse came in then with a smile. "I'm sorry, but it's time for me to check his vitals, and then the doctor wants to test his brain activity again."

Carol nodded. She kissed Casey's hand. "You might want to wake up for this, Case. Your nurse is going to check your vitals, and she's a real looker!"

The nurse laughed. "Thank you for the compliment."

Carol smiled at her, then turned her attention back to Casey. "I'll be back after your testing." She then looked at the nurse. "He'll be okay in the long run, right?" she asked gently.

The nurse looked at her with sympathy. "I can't say a hundred percent, but I think he is one of the lucky ones. I really do think he is going to pull through this just fine."

Carol smiled too. "Thank you. I'll be back." She then headed to the cafeteria. She supposed Aiden was right. She had to eat if she wanted to be strong for Casey.

 **~*came back to me.*~**

"So, is he full of it or what?" Aiden asked once Kayla had finished looking over Hope's medical chart that Dr. Davis had provided her.

Kayla looked up at him. "I'm afraid it's exactly what he said. I don't know what is going on, or how this is happening, but Hope's body seems to be shutting down. She is in no condition to be moved.

"Is my mother going to die?" Shawn, as strong as he was, looked like he was about to burst into tears. "I can't lose her, Kayla. I can't! I already lost my dad. I can't lose her too."

Kayla looked worried. "Dr. Davis said he can cure her, but I have never seen anything like this before. I'd have to do tests of my own to see for sure."

"There is no need for that, Dr. Brady," Dr. Davis said, coming into the room and injecting something into Hope's IV. "She should start to improve really soon."

"What did you just inject her with?" Kayla asked skeptically, her arms crossed over her chest.

"That's nothing you need to concern yourself with. All you need to know is that it will help her," Dr. Davis said simply.

"Hope is my former sister-in-law, and she is still very much like a sister to me. As a fellow doctor, I have every right to know what you're injecting my patient with." Kayla was clearly ticked off.

"With all due respect, she's not your patient any longer, Dr. Brady. How I treat my patients in my business and no one else's," Dr. Davis replied.

"The FDA and medical board would disagree with you. If a patient is given a drug that is harmful then—"

"Well this isn't harmful!" Dr. Davis snapped, interrupting her. She will be better by the morning."

Kayla stared coldly into his eyes. "If she isn't, I intend on ordering a full on investigation of you and your hospital."

"You do that," Dr. Davis said, unscathed by her threats. "Now everybody out! She needs peace and quiet while recuperating."

"I don't think so! You kicked me out last night. I won't allow you to do it again," Aiden said simply. He looked at Shawn for backup.

To his surprise, Shawn nodded. "No, he's right. She'll be fine. We'll come back in the morning, and she'll be better, right Dr. Davis?"

Dr. Davis looked relieved. "Yes. Come by tomorrow, and you can visit your mother and wife."

"I will be back as well," Kayla stated.

The three of them left, and didn't speak until they were out of the hospital.

"Why did you just give up like that?" Aiden snapped. "I want her out of there!"

"Well she's not healthy enough to be moved. Dr. Davis is right about that. He must be doing something to her. One's body doesn't just shut down within a matter of days. Cancer doesn't even work that quickly," Kayla stated.

"I came prepared. I placed a bug underneath the tray in her room. I did it when Marshall was arguing with Aunt Kayla. A buddy of mine back at the station will be listening for any foul play. If Marshall says one wrong thing, anything sketchy at all, we'll have enough evidence to get the department involved," Shawn explained.

"I want to hear what's going on," Aiden replied.

Shawn shook his head. "It is police business. If I find anything at all, I will call you. I'm going to get some lunch and then head back to the station and listen myself. I promise you, we're going to get him. We're going to get my mom well and out of his grasp again. I won't stop until we do."

Aiden sighed. "All right."

"Do you guys want to join me for lunch?" Shawn asked.

"Thanks, for the offer, but I better get back to Carol. She's all by herself and could use some support," Aiden replied.

"Tell her I'm praying for Casey," Shawn said kindly.

Aiden nodded. "Thank you. I will."

"I have to be getting back to work," Kayla announced. "I'm going to see what I can dig up on Dr. Davis' past as a doctor. There's got to be something."

"Good idea," Shawn said.

Aiden nodded.

They said their goodbyes, and then Shawn dropped Aiden back home to get his car, then headed off to get lunch. Once his lunch break was over, he was going to be listening to the bugging device until Dr. Davis slipped up. Shawn had no doubt in his mind that he would. After all, all criminals slipped up eventually. All he had to do was wait it out, and then nab that son of a bitch. And he would. Not nabbing him was not an option.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

That night, Dr. Davis laid low. He didn't like people nosing around his hospital. He knew time was getting short. He was going to have to work fast or they would get Hope out of the hospital before he could complete his mission. However, he knew he had to be on his best behavior that night. Which, unfortunately for him, leant not having his nightly touching session with Hope. She would be coming to soon anyway. He gently stroked her hair as she continued to sleep. She would feel better tomorrow just so it would shut Kayla and the others up. But as soon as they left, he would make sure she got sick again. He would make sure that Hope knew that he was the only one who had the antidote to cure her of this disease for good. Whether or not he gave it to her would be entirely up to her. But seeing as it would surely kill her if she didn't agree to his terms, he had a feeling that she'd agree.

He smiled to himself, and kissed the top of her head. "Sweet dreams, Hope. Until tomorrow."

He then walked out of the room so that he could head back home. He was off duty for the rest of the night and he had a lot left to do at his private home laboratory in order for his little plan to work.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

"There you are. I'm surprised you weren't at Casey's bedside. Did you go home to get some rest I hope?" Aiden asked as Carol walked in to Casey's room. Aiden had been sitting with him for a good fifteen minutes at least.

"I took your advice and made sure I got some lunch. You know, hospital food has gotten a lot better than it used to be." Carol hugged her brother. "Thank you for coming. How's Hope doing?"

Aiden explained to her everything that had happened that morning.

Carol sighed, and plopped herself down into the chair beside Casey's bed. "That guy is a creep. You need to get her away from him ASAP. Surely there is some way of transporting her without her dying. Or at the very least, have Kayla take over at that hospital until Hope is well enough to move."

Aiden nodded. "I was thinking the same thing. I might just discuss that tomorrow with Kayla if nothing changes. Dr. Davis claims Hope will be getting better by tomorrow."

"How can Hope go from ill to better to deathly ill and back to better in the span of one day and night?" Carol asked.

Aiden shook his head. "I wish I knew. All I know is that none of this makes any sense. He must be doing something to her to control how she feels. It's the only explanation."

"But why?" Carol asked.

"He's sick. He has had a crush on her since day one. It's probably his sick way of being close to her; making her need him." Aiden clenched his fists at the thought. "I swear if he hurts her…."

"Aiden, I know you're going to want to pulverize him, but don't do anything to get yourself in trouble with the law. Men like Dr. Davis are clever. He will end of making you suffer for his misdeeds if you're not careful. He'll turn it around on you, I can guarantee it. Let Shawn and his fellow officers take care of it," Carol warned. "Hope needs you right now, and you'll do her no good in jail."

Aiden shook his head. "Trust me, the only one who is going to end up in jail is Dr. Davis. Unless I kill him first."

Carol shot him a warning look. "Aiden, now what did I just say?"

Aiden held his hands up. "I was joking!"

"Yeah, well, you better have been," Carol grumbled.

"So, how is Casey doing?" Aiden asked.

"He's okay, but he really needs to wake up soon. I overheard the nurses say that if he doesn't wake up soon, it could mean he has brain damage after all." She sniffled. "I've been praying so hard he won't be brain damaged, but now I'm starting to worry. What if he doesn't wake up?" Carol asked, looking up at her little brother with tears in her eyes.

"Shh…" Aiden held her close. "You can't think that way. He'll wake up. And when he does, he's going to be just fine."

"I hope so. Even the mutt misses him. He sometimes cries at night as if he knows his daddy is sick," Carol stated.

"He has a name, and it's Jake. I don't think you would have appreciated your mother calling you 'the mutt'," came a weak voice.

Carol and Aiden both looked over toward where the voice had come from.

Casey smiled weakly at them. "But I won't tell you what you called him. For his sake."

Carol burst into tears and ran over to him, embracing him. "Oh my gosh, thank God, you're awake! I was so afraid you'd never wake up!"

Casey winced. "Please be careful. I feel like I've been beaten with a hammer all over my body and then encased in cement."

"Sorry." Carol backed off immediately. "Do you remember what happened?"

"I remember falling of a balcony, and then all went blank," he replied. "Man I'm dying for some water or something. My mouth is so dry."

"Here!" Carol took a nearby cup and filled it in the sink, and then helped him drink it.

"Thank you. Much better," Casey said.

"You fell three stories and landed face down on top of a car. Thank God for the car. You may not have made it if you had fallen onto the cement," Aiden said to him.

"You broke almost every bone in your body," Carol added. "They thought you might have brain damage if you didn't wake up soon."

" _Me_ have brain damage? You're the one who dated Andre Dimera!" Casey teased.

"Shut up!" Carol said. But she smiled nonetheless.

"How long have I been out for?" Casey asked.

"A couple days," Carol answered. "I've been taking good care of Jake for you."

"Thank you. Does he miss me terribly?" Casey asked.

"He does," Carol admitted.

Aiden interrupted just long enough to tell Casey he was glad he was feeling better. Then he excused himself. He hadn't had much time for the twins lately, and he wanted to go be with them. Plus he figured Carol would want some alone time with Casey.

Carol hugged him and kissed his cheek, and told him to hang in there. She then let him leave and filled Casey in on what was happening with Hope.

"That's awful! I hope they get that guy away from her," Casey said.

"Don't worry. Knowing my brother, he'll be gone by tomorrow." She squeezed his hand again. "I'm so happy you're awake! I'm going to go call Kayla and have her look you over." Carol then ran out to call Kayla.

Casey sighed. He was more worried about Hope than he was about himself now. He knew men like Dr. Davis all too well. They could be dangerous, he knew. And smart doctors like him were the most dangerous of them all.


	96. S4E21

_**This Love…**_

 _ **Season 4 Episode 21: Break Me Shake Me**_

Shawn was getting frustrated. He had sat for most of the night in the surveillance van, listening for anything that he could get Dr. Davis on. It was to no avail. In fact, it didn't seem like much was going on in Hope's room at all. He wished he had had time to put in a hidden camera as well, but he knew that he had only had a tiny little pocket of time. He was lucky to even get the listening device in before being noticed. Now, if he had planned further ahead, he could have gotten the camera in at some point. But this was a last minute decision, and they had to act fast before Dr. Davis made Hope even sicker. Shawn was sure of it now that Dr. Davis was doing this to Hope. He just wasn't completely sure on the how or the why. All he knew was that he had to stop him. But before he could, he needed proof.

Shawn took his head phones off, stood up, and stretched. He hadn't slept in twenty hours, and it was starting to take a toll on him. He nodded toward his fellow detective who was on surveillance duty with him. "I'm going to head back home for a quick nap, a shower, and change. I'll be back. Call me immediately if you hear anything incriminating. Even over the smallest thing, call me."

Frank Gordon, his fellow detective nodded. "Will do, Detective." He put his headphones back on, and went back to listening.

Shawn stretched again, and was just about to leave, when Detective Gordon stopped him. "Uh, Shawn? You may want to come back here and listen to this. We're finally picking up on the doctor and your mother's voices."

His mother was awake! That was something if nothing else. Shawn quickly rushed back to his seat and put his headphones back on and he listened closely to their conversation as he silently prayed that God would give him something that he could use to save his mother.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

Hope felt like she had been hit by a Mac Truck when she slowly fluttered her eyes open with a groan. For a moment, she had forgotten where she was, and then the hospital room registered. She was still in the hospital. She had lost all sense of time. She didn't know what time it was, what day it was, or even how long she had been in the hospital.

She glanced at the clock. It was seven-thirty. She looked out the window and saw that it was light, and therefore in the AM.

Just then, Doctor Davis came into the room, smiling when he saw that she was awake. "Good morning, Hope! How are you feeling today?" he asked her cheerily.

She tried to smile, but it took too much energy. "I've felt better. Yet, at least I don't feel completely like death today. Just a little." She did manage a weak smile this time.

"I'm glad to hear that you feel improvement!" Dr. Davis said with a bigger smile.

"Have you figured out what's wrong with me yet?" Hope asked.

Dr. Davis nodded. "Oh, I know exactly what is wrong with you."

Hope's face lit up. "Can you fix it? Can you cure me?"

Dr. Davis nodded. "Easily!"

"Really? Oh my gosh, finally! Thank you! What do you have to do? Is it a special medicine you have to administer? How soon will it be before I'm a hundred percent again? Will there be any long-term effects?" Hope was going a mile a minute.

Dr. Davis smiled at her again, and then slowly turned and shut the door. He locked it, and pulled down the blinds.

Hope felt it was just a confidentiality precaution on his part, and didn't think anything of it.

"The problem was, you have a poison in your body that in longer use can do some real damage to all your vital organs. Lucky for you, it hasn't been in your system long enough to do any long-term damage. Nevertheless, it is what is making you so violently ill," Dr. Davis explained.

Hope paled. "How on earth did I get that in my system?"

Dr. Davis shrugged. "Well, it could have been slipped into anything you drank. See, it's a clear liquid and completely tasteless."

"But who would slip it into my drink? I know I've put a lot of people in prison, but I never drank anything around any of them. Maybe someone was out of jail and somewhere that I ate in public who I didn't recognize or see. Even then, how did they manage to slip it in my drink without me noticing?" Hope was beyond confused and couldn't think of a single instance where she had left a drink unattended. Only for the briefest of seconds did she worry about Aiden going back to his old ways, but she scolded herself almost the instant she had thought it. Aiden would never do anything like that to her. Even when he had gone a little insane, he had never ever tried to hurt her. But then who was it?

"Maybe it was someone you had lunch with," Dr. Davis suggested with a tiny smile.

Hope barely noticed the odd smile. Her mind was too preoccupied with trying to figure out who could have done this to her. "How come Kayla couldn't detect it?"

"It's a new drug. Freshly created. In fact, you were the first one it was used on," Dr. Davis said simply." _The first human anyway._ "I was amazed when it started working on you so soon."

Hope was starting to register things more clearly now. "How do you know I was the first one it was ever used on?" she asked in full on suspicion now.

"Because I'm the one who created it, my dear. And then I took you out to lunch, and when you went up to get me a refill, I put a few drops into your drink," Dr. Davis said simply as if he were talking about simply pranking her by pouring salt into her drink.

"Why?" Hope squeaked. She knew he was a little creepy, but she had never expected this. And she hadn't even seen the worst of him yet.

Dr. Davis shrugged. "It's your own fault, really. I gave you ample opportunity to run away with me, but you wouldn't. I don't like being rejected, and I felt that it was high-time you learn a lesson for leading me on and then disposing me like I'm trash!"

"Leading you on? What on earth have I ever done to lead you on?" Hope asked in surprise.

"You agreed to go out with me on several occasions. You even danced with me at Carlivati's!" Dr. Davis reminded her.

"I was just being polite because you were a client of my husband's. I told you each time that you tried to hit on me that I wasn't interested!" Hope reminded him in return.

"And yet, you kept going out with me, leading me on!" Dr. Davis snapped.

"Stop saying going out with you as if it were a date! I was doing it to be polite! Deep down I always found you a little creepy. I can see I was right!" Hope snapped.

"And you're a trashy tease!" Dr. Davis snapped. "Well, I'm tired of you being a tease. You're going to give me what I want. You're going to come to bed with me, and then you're going to divorce Aiden and become my wife!"

Hope laughed. "It will be a cold day in hell when I do any of that. In fact, not even then!"

Dr. Davis looked at her evilly. "I'm afraid, my dear, if you ever want to get better, you don't have a choice in the matter."

Hope narrowed her eyes at him. "What are you going to do? Kidnap me?" She was trying not to let the fear show on her face. Dr. Davis was clearly off his rocker. Who knew what else he was capable of doing to her or anyone else for that matter?

"You want to get better, don't you?" Dr. Davis asked her simply.

Hope narrowed her eyes at him. "You know I do."

"Well, I'm the only one who has the antidote to that poison I created. And, if you don't get it soon, there will be some very serious damage, and you will eventually die—a lot sooner than you'd think, actually." He grinned at her. "I named the drug Mardaliz. Part Marshall, part Amanda, and part Liz. It's perfect, isn't it? I really am quite the genius. I tested on rats and had to work on it for almost a year, but I finally got it right. When you came a long and rejected me, I knew you were the perfect specimen to try it out on. You're the very first human I've tried it on. You see, I'm a bit of a genius when it comes to chemistry and biology. Physics too. I guess that's why I'm such a successful and renowned doctor," he said proudly.

Hope was sick in more ways than one. She suddenly remembered all the malpractice law suits Aiden had to get him out of. "You've been harming other women too, haven't you? Others have turned you down and you did something to get back at them too."

Dr. Davis grinned. "There are a lot of teases out there, Hope. Women need to be taught lessons and put in their place. They can't just keep getting away with the things they do." Dr. Davis's eyes darkened. "Like this one woman even went as far as having an affair with me. Then she found out she was pregnant with her husband's baby and told me it was over between the two of us. She felt the baby should be with her daddy." He laughed at the memory. "I pretended to be totally fine with it, and even offered to be the one who delivered the baby for her." His grin got even bigger. "I made sure she didn't get the baby she wanted. I killed it at birth by strangulation."

Hope turned over and vomited into the bucket that was beside her bed.

Dr. Davis made a face. "Gross. I'll have to have a nurse get that for you later. Meanwhile, I want you to think about what I told you. You can reject me and die, or you can be with me and I will make you so happy. I'll get you the antidote right away and within a week, you should start to feel back to yourself again, and then we can go to Aruba, or wherever you'd like. You can even bring the twins if you'd like. I can give them a better life than that Aiden jerk ever could."

Hope was angry now. "Aiden is a better man that you could ever dream of being," she spat.

"Keep it up and I'll make sure that the twins get some of the poison in their bottles!" Dr. Davis snapped angrily.

Hope narrowed her eyes at him again. "That's it! I'm calling my son. He is a cop! You're going to wish you never threatened that." She was terrified for both herself, and for the twins. Heck, what if he even did something to Aiden?

As if reading her mind, he shook his head. "I wouldn't try to call anyone or tell them of what we just discussed, if I were you, Hope. Trust me, I have ways of getting this poison to both your twins and to Aiden. Heck, even your son. I have enough made to kill off your whole family and no one would ever know the antidote. If you say one word of this to anyone, or the police get wind of this in any way, you can consider them all dead. The antidote will never be found."

He headed for the door. "I had your cell phone taken away anyway, and the landline in here isn't hooked up. I meant what I said, don't tell a soul. You have until noon to tell me of your decision. Just remember, if it's a no, your family will die, and I might just let you alive long enough to watch. Then you can join them for all I care. But I know you'll make the right decision. He looked her up and down hungrily. "I'm an excellent lover, Hope. You'd be lucky to have me. I'll treat you like a Queen as long as you do things my way. I think your decision is really a no brainer here." He then unlocked the door, and left, shutting the door behind him to give her time to make the decision alone.

Hope watched him leave, and as she thought of everything he had just said to her, she leaned over and puked into the bucket one more time as she wondered what on earth she was going to do.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

Shawn pulled the headphones down as his whole being was consumed by anger. "I'm going to kill him!" he yelled.

Detective Gordon took off his headphones as well, and gently placed a hand over Shawn's shoulder. "I know she's your mother, Detective, and if it were my mother, frankly, this doctor would be dead by sunrise. But remember what he said. I know you want to go off on him, and I don't blame you one bit! But we have to proceed with caution. This guy is crazy, and we can't have take him into custody until your mother has the antidote in her."

Shawn nodded. He knew he was right, but even so, right now he wanted to bash the doctor in the head hard with his gun until he coughed up the antidote. "That sick son of a bitch will give her the antidote if he knows what's good for him," he growled.

"We need to set up a plan. We need to get you in to see your mother to tell her that she may have to play along for a bit," Detective Gordon informed him.

"There is no way in hell I'm letting that disgusting pig touch my mother!" Shawn snapped.

"I said play along. I didn't say actually let him go through with it," Detective Gordon said simply.

"I need to call my stepdad. He needs to know what's going on." Shawn took out his cell phone.

"Yeah, maybe you better go tell him in person. The last thing we need is him flying off the handle at Dr. Davis and ruining out chance of getting that antidote," Detective Gordon said reasonably.

Shawn sighed. "You're right. I want you to send that recording off to both the Salem PD and the Mount Vernon PD as well. Explain to them the situation and see if they come up with anything. I'll meet you back here in an hour."

Detective Gordon nodded. "I'll get right on it."

Shawn then quickly took off, not looking forward to breaking it to Aiden how deeply disturbed Dr. Davis truly was.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

"I'm going to kill him! I'm gonna make him give Hope that antidote. He isn't going to have a choice in the matter!" Aiden said, his eyes flashing with anger, and his fists clenched as he tried to head out of his office.

Shawn held him back with a hand over his chest. "Aiden, he have to be calm about this."

"Calm? How can you say that? She is your mother and my wife, and what Marshall is doing is basically raping her. I'm sorry, but there is no way I can stay calm!" Aiden snapped.

Shawn had to push harder to continue holding him back. "Trust me, I want to kill the guy just as much as you do. But we have to play this right or we could risk losing the antidote. We need to come up with a plan. We may have to use mom to do it."

"I'm not letting my wife be raped!" Aiden yelled.

"And I'm not letting my mother be raped. But she may have to play along just long enough to get the antidote. We have to get in to visit her just long enough to tell her to play along. We'll have her tell Marshall that she wants to be well enough before she will agree to have sex with him. I'm sure he isn't going to want a sickly woman as his sexual partner anyway. He'll want her to be in top form." Shawn massaged his own temples. "This whole thing makes me want to puke, but I have to treat this as if she is just any other woman. I can't let her being my mother stop me from making the best decisions no matter how horrifying those decisions may be."

Aiden nodded. He hated this too, but he was willing to work with Shawn if it was the only way to get his wife better and away from the horrible excuse for a man and a doctor. "So, once she is better, we come in and arrest him? Or rather, you and your department do?"

Shawn nodded. "I was thinking about it all the way from Mount Vernon to Salem. I believe it's the only way. We can have plain clothes officers stake out the hospital. They'll pretend to be family of other patience. He'll never know the difference. They'll make sure he does nothing to jeopardize her even further. And once she is healed, we'll surround him. He'll never be able to hurt anyone ever again once he's in prison."

"All right then. Who is Dr. Davis more likely to let in to see Hope?" Aiden asked. "I doubt he'll let me or even you in, cop or not."

"We don't want to arouse suspicion, or I'd have Roman go in to see her. I thought his rank would cause Marshall to let him in, but it might work the opposite way and alert him that we're on to him. What about Kayla?" Shawn asked.

"You don't think Marshall would suspect her too?" Aiden asked.

Shawn shook his head. "She'll be discreet, and being a doctor, she'll have a right to check up on her once patient. It won't look too unusual."

"Why don't we have Carol do it?" Aiden asked. "She's pretty, and around Dr. Davis's age. Not that I want my sister anywhere near him either, but Dr. Davis might be more apt to let a pretty friend of Hope's visit her than anyone else."

Shawn grinned. "Aiden, that's genius. If you can convince her, I think she'd be the perfect solution to our problem."

"She won't have a problem with it. I'll go call her." Aiden walked away to made the phone call, and five minutes later, he was off the phone. "She'll do it," he announced.

Shawn smiled. "I'll go let Roman and the Mount Vernon commissioner know what we've got planned. I have to get permission from them first of course, but I have no doubt they'll approve it. There's no other way."

Aiden nodded. "It had better," he said. "Otherwise, I'll be taking matters into my own hands."

"Don't worry," Shawn assured him. "If this plan doesn't work out, I'll be right there with you. Either way, Doctor Davis is going down. Not only will he never see it coming, but he'll never know what hit him either."

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

"Now don't worry. Just act casual, like you're an old friend visiting Hope. Don't let on to Dr. Davis or any other hospital staff that you're her sister-in-law. Act like you and my mom were college roommates or something," Shawn instructed Carol as she prepared to go in and visit Hope an hour and a half later.

"I'm a littler nervous. I don't want to screw anything up. We have to get that antidote," Carol said, smoothing out her tight black leather mini skirt she had chosen to wear. She was wearing a lacy red cami, and matching red heals and hoped that it would entice Dr. Davis enough to allow her to visit Hope.

"We just got the search warrant signed by the judge, so we currently have men at his house searching for anything that could be the antidote," Shawn informed her. "Even our tech guys are there to search through his computer. They are instructed to, when they finish, leave the place looking like they had never been there. Hopefully we'll find something so we don't have to have it go too far as far as having my mother playing along. However, just in case, we need to continue on with this. There's no time to waste."

Carol was so nervous she was shaking. "Let's just get this over with."

Meanwhile, Hope was at a loss as to what to do. She didn't know any way out. She had no intentions of sleeping with Dr. Davis, nor did she plan on running away with him. "However, she also had no intentions of letting herself, the twins, Aiden, or Shawn die either. She felt she had to secretly tell someone. Maybe they could help her. But then what if Dr. Davis found out she had told someone and he had someone she loved injected with the same poison she had been injected with? She had no doubt now that Marshall was capable of anything.

Just then, there was a knock on her door. Fearing it was Dr. Davis, Hope was afraid to answer. But then she knew Dr. Davis would have just walked right in. "Come in," she said weakly.

Carol came in then, smiling brightly. "Hope! It's so good to see you again! I wanted to come visit you at your home as a surprise, and then your husband told me you were in the hospital. You poor thing! I just had to come and visit you." She walked over and kissed Hope's cheek in case anyone was watching. "What happened?"

Hope was confused. "Carol, what are you…?" Carol winked at her, and Hope suddenly knew that she was up to something. "Long time no see. How have you been?"

"Just fine, thanks." Carol hugged Hope, and then murmured in her ear. "We know what's going on. Shawn had the room bugged. Play along. Tell Marshall that you'll agree to his terms, but only after he makes you better again. Tell him you want to be in top form before you agree to be with him intimately." She then pulled away from the hug.

Hope looked at her with both relief and terror in her eyes. "What if he won't listen?" she whispered in fear.

Before Carol could respond, Dr. Davis came into the room, and cleared his throat loudly. "And who might you be?" he asked Carol.

Carol turned to face him and used all the strength she had in her to flirt with him instead of pummeling him like she would have preferred to do. "I heard my old college roommate was in the hospital and I wanted to see how she was doing." Carol gently rubbed Hope's shoulder. "She seems to be doing a little better, thanks to you." She then grinned at Dr. Davis. "She neglected to inform me how hot her doctor is."

Dr. Davis' expression went from one of suspicion to being flattered in a matter of two seconds. He grinned. "That's quite the compliment coming from a woman as attractive as you!"

Carol giggled, and her fingers through her hair. "I try." She blushed. "Will she be okay, Doctor?" She gave him her best puppy dog eyes and pouty lips.

"That depends on Hope and how hard she is willing to fight to get better," Dr. Davis replied as he moved closer to Carol.

Carol backed up. He was looking at her as if she were a piece of meat. "You have some very nice legs…among other things," he said to her.

"Thank you," she replied nervously. He made her want to vomit.

"Are you okay?" Dr. Davis asked her. "You're looking kind of peaked." He gently reached out to touch her forehead, though his eyes were on her chest; not her forehead.

Carol had convinced herself that he was reaching for her breasts instead of her forehead, and she violently backed right into the tray that Shawn had planted the bug underneath, causing the tray to topple over, exposing the bug.

Carol realized what she had done, and instantly fixed the tray to the right side up position, but it was too late. Dr. Davis had already spotted it.

"Oops!" Carol said with a blush. "Sorry. I'm such a klutz sometimes." She was shaking. "Well, I hope you get better soon, Hope. I'm sure your family misses you terribly," Carol said nervously. She kissed Hope's cheek. She then headed toward the door. "I'll visit you again real soon."

However, before Carol could leave, Dr. Davis rushed on ahead to the door, shut it, and locked it.

"You're not going anywhere," he growled before roughly grabbing Carol's arm as Carol looked at him in pure terror.

Carol tried to pull her arm away, but she couldn't. He was too strong, and now, like Hope, she was suddenly at his mercy.


	97. S4E22

_**This Love…**_

 _ **Season 4 Episode 22: Don't Dream It's Over**_

"I really can't stay. I must be going. I have a train to catch, and—"

Dr. Davis cut Carol off. He let go of her arm, but was blocking the doorway. "Are you responsible for that bug?" he asked, nodding toward the table.

Carol shook her head. "Bug? I hate bugs! I'd never have anything to do with any nasty, creepy, crawly bugs! Yuck!" She made a face.

Dr. Davis was not amused. "You know what I mean."

"Oh, you mean the kind that record things? I am _so_ not tech savvy. I don't even have a computer! Trust me when I say, I know nothing about any bug." Carol tried to play it cool, but she was talking so fast out of nervousness that it gave her away.

Dr. Davis grabbed her arm again and squeezed it hard. "I think you're lying!" he snapped. "In fact, I _know_ you're lying."

"I really must insist you let go of my arm," Carol said, narrowing her eyes at him. "I didn't plant any bug."

"But you knew about it!" Dr. Davis said, narrowing his eyes at her in return. "And you know who did." Still squeezing her arm tightly, he practically dragged her across the room to the portable tray table that the bug was still attached to. Still holding her arm with one hand, he used his free hand to rip the bug from underneath the table. He then smashed it to the floor, stomping on it repeatedly until it was in pieces, and therefore, useless.

"My son will be in here any minute now. You're not going to get away with this," Hope said angrily. "And my husband is going to kill you when he finds out what you've done."

Dr. Davis laughed. "Do you think any of them are a match for me? Dream on!" He then pulled a syringe from one of the inside pockets of his lab coat.

"What are you doing?" Carol asked, fear taking over again. "What is that?"

Dr. Davis smiled. "Just a little something to stop you from trying to escape."

"No!" Carol tried to pull away, but to no avail.

Dr. Davis struck like a viper and jammed the needle into her neck as Carol and Hope both cried out. Carol in pain and horror, and Hope in horror

"What did you just inject into to me?" Carol asked in almost a whisper. She was frozen in fear. "Am I going to die?"

"No. But, you're going to be out of it for a very long time. I just injected you with a very strong tranquilizer. It shouldn't be enough to kill you, but I guess one never can know for sure, can they?" Dr. Davis asked with an evil grin.

Carol started to feel faint. She didn't know if it was at the possibility of dying, or if the tranquilizer was already taking effect. She knew that if it was the tranquilizer, it really must be strong if it was taking an instant effect on her.

Dr. Davis let go of her arm finally, and she slumped to the floor. She suddenly felt nauseous and exhausted all in one.

"You're an animal!" Hope screamed at him.

Dr. Davis grinned at her. "Just wait until you see me in bed," he said as he wriggled his eyebrows up and down at her and tugged at his belt.

Hope was nervous. She had expected her son and his team to be there by now, but they weren't. Surely they had to know something was up. They had to have heard that he found the bug. It would be obvious now anyway with no more audio feed.

Hope looked down at Carol who was now curled up in a fetal position on the floor. "Carol, are you all right?" she asked; worried.

"No…" Carol said weakly. "I'm not." She closed her eyes and started to cry.

And as Hope looked from Carol into Dr. Davis' cruel, wicked eyes, and saw the even wickeder smile on his face, she was more afraid than she had ever been in all her years on the police force.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

Meanwhile, in the surveillance van, Shawn was horrified. "They found the bug. We need to get in there. Now."

"I'll go in there myself! I'm going to kill him!" Aiden said, beyond angered by the fact that Dr. Davis was holding his wife and Carol hostage. He had been listening along with Shawn and the other officers in the van.

Shawn placed a hand over Aiden's shoulder to calm him. "We have to proceed with caution. There's no telling what a psycho like Marshall will do when cornered."

"Well we have to do something before he hurts my wife and my sister!" Aiden insisted.

"We could get through the window. We'll have to repel from the roof since her room is on the top floor," Detective Gordon suggested. "We have the equipment on us. I brought it in case it came to this. It's looking like our only option now."

Shawn nodded. "I think it may be our best bet," he agreed. "You and Salvador are our best repellers. I'll let you two handle that. Derek and I will surround the door."

It was settled then.

"What do I do?" Aiden asked.

Shawn looked at him. "You stay here in the van. No offense, but you'd only get in our way if you went in with us."

Aiden wasn't pleased, but he knew that they knew what they were doing.

It took fifteen minutes to get everything set up. Detectives Salvador Perez and Frank Gordon had flashed their badges to hospital staff and warned them not to say a thing to Dr. Davis. They asked for the best way to get up on the roof, and one of the nurses gave them a pass card for the elevator to take them up to the roof.

Shawn and Detective Derek Johnson stood guard by the door. Dr. Davis still had the blinds pulled, so he was as far as they knew, he was totally unaware of their presence outside the doorway.

And as Aiden waited impatiently in the van, he silently prayed that his wife and sister would get out of this unscathed and that the antidote would be found. After all he had been through to get Hope back for good, he couldn't lose her again. He simply couldn't bear it. And after losing his parents at such a young age, he wasn't prepared to lose his sister too. It was too much to even think about.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

"Carol, stay with me, please," Hope said, as she watched Carol, who was rapidly losing consciousness on the floor.

"I'm trying, but…the drug…is so…powerful." Carol opened her eyes, but the mere force of opening her eyes was too much for her, and she closed them again. "I need to rest my eyes for just a moment," she said breathily, followed up with a peaceful sigh.

"Carol, no! You can't do that!" Hope said. The fact that Carol didn't even appear to be scared anymore, proved that she was nearly asleep.

"I think now is as good of a time as any to make good on our little deal. Wouldn't you say so, Hope? Don't worry. She'll be asleep any time now. And even if she isn't sleeping, she won't know what's going on," Dr. Davis said in reference to Carol.

"I can't have sex with you if I'm feeling sick," Hope replied.

Dr. Davis shook his head. "You aren't sick enough to vomit all over me, and that is all I care about. I gave you just enough to make your stomach feel a little better. You don't get the rest until after you've done your part of the deal. You don't think I'm stupid, do you Hope? I certainly hope not, because I don't take lightly my intelligence being insulted! And you will not refer to it as 'having sex' with me. You will refer to it as making love with me."

"It will never be making love!" Hope snapped. "I will never make love to you, nor will I have sex with you! You disgust me! Everything about you disgusts me! In fact, I'd rather die than ever let you touch me!" Hope snapped.

Dr. Davis' eyes flashed with anger as he stormed over to her and slapped her hard across the face. "You're going to wish you hadn't said that," he said wickedly. His eyes flashed in a way that scared the hell out of Hope.

"Don't you touch me!" she yelled.

Dr. Davis only grinned at her evilly as he headed toward her and started to undo his belt.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

Aiden sat in the van, waiting for news. He couldn't see from the van if the repellers were up on the roof yet. He knew that even once up there, they had to navigate around until they found the right side for Hope's window. They had a map of the hospital's layout with her room circled in red, but even so, Aiden couldn't imagine finding the right window out of all those windows. There had to be hundreds of windows all around the hospital. He knew the cops were trained to know how to find things untrained people couldn't, but even so, it worried him sick. What if they didn't get to her in time? What if Dr. Davis made her sicker, or worse, killed her before they could get to her?

Aiden started to sweat. He couldn't lose Hope. Not after he finally got her back. The thought of never talking to her again, never seeing her beautiful smile, and never hearing her laugh again… The thought of never seeing her play with their twins and making them giggle… Never being able to hold her in his arms ever again, or kiss her, or make love to her… And then he thought of his sister. They had barely had a year of being back in each other's lives again. He had always loved his sister even during the years they were estranged and she had infuriated him. In fact, in this past year he had grown to love her even more than ever. They had never been this close before. He couldn't lose her either. He just couldn't! He also couldn't stay put when the two most important women in his life needed him. He couldn't just sit there on his butt when his wife's and sister's lives were at stake.

Unable to take it any longer, Aiden slid open the door to the van, hopped out, slammed the door shut, and ran toward the hospital. He had to be there for them. He had let them both down before, and this time, he was not going to let it happen again.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

Dr. Davis undid his belt and opened and unzipped his pants. "You're going to be a good girl and not fight me on this, Hope. Remember, if you fight me on this, you're not going to be the only one who pays. I will kill your little friend here, as well as your husband and son, and maybe even your little twins. I also did my research and know you have an older daughter too. I might as well make it a family affair and kill her as well."

Hope spat in his face. "You're not going to be able to get anywhere near them! My husband and son will both see to that!"

Dr. Davis grinned evilly. "We'll just see about that!" He then kissed her hard on the mouth and she cried out and pushed him roughly away.

"Don't fight it, Bitch!" he snapped, slapping her face yet again. He then straddled her and used one hand to hold her head back against the pillow as her ripped her hospital gown with his free hand. He was stronger than Hope had thought he would be.

"Get off of me!" she screamed. She began thrashing, but he was too strong for her. He held her firmly with one hand as he began pulling his pants and underwear of with his other hand.

Shawn and Detective Johnson heard the commotion and knew they could no longer wait for the repellers. They had to get in there now before Hope got raped.

"Police! We're coming in!" Shawn yelled as Detective Johnson got ready to ram the door down.

Dr. Davis ceased what he was doing, and placed a hand firmly over Hope's mouth, stopping her from speaking. "I have a gun! I swear if you break that door down right now I will blow her brains out!" He yelled.

Detective Johnson immediately paused before he could ram the door. He looked at Shawn. "What is taking Perez and Gordon so long?" he said only loud enough for Shawn to hear.

"They're probably having trouble finding the right window," Shawn whispered. He didn't know what to do. He couldn't let his mother be raped, but he also couldn't let her be shot. If he or Detective Johnson tried shooting through the door, they could accidentally hit Carol or Hope, and they simply could not take that risk.

The room started to sway, and Shawn was beginning to think that this was too much for him. His mother was the one in danger. He should have let someone else handle the case. This was too much emotionally for him.

"What's going on? Why isn't anyone in there yet?" Aiden asked from behind them.

Shawn jumped, and turned around to see his stepfather. "What the hell are you doing here?" he whisper-snapped. "I told you to stay in the van!"

"My wife and sister's lives are in danger, Shawn. I couldn't just sit there and wait. Could you just sit there and wait if it were Ciara and Belle?" He knew Shawn and Belle were no longer together, but he also knew that he still loved her enough to never just sit on his butt if she were in danger.

"You're not trained to handle situations like I am. And it's my mother for gosh sake. Don't you think I care too?" Shawn snapped. The last thing he needed now was his stepfather's interference screwing this up for them.

"If you're trained so well, then how come she's thill in there?" Aiden nodded toward the closed door. "Huh?"

Shawn wanted to deck him. But he had more pressing matters at hand to attend to. Besides, deep down, he understood where Aiden was coming from. In a way, Shawn was asking himself the same thing. Even so, it didn't help hearing someone else point out his short comings to him.

Hope screamed again from the other side of the door. "Don't touch me!"

That was it. Aiden wasn't going to wait any longer. "I need a drink of water," he grumbled.

"Yes, go get one. Get out of our hair and let us do our jobs," Shawn snapped.

Aiden walked away, and waited until Shawn and Detective Johnson were talking amongst themselves and paying no attention to him. He then went up to the nurse behind the desk. "Hey, those two detectives over there wanted me to come and get a key card to Hope Jennings' room. There is a hostage situation in there, and they need to get in immediately."

God must have been smiling down on him that day, Aiden knew, because the nurse was new, and, having seen him just talking to the two detectives, took his word for it.

"Sure!" she said with a smile. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a keycard. "This key will open any room."

"Thanks!" Aiden said with a smile. He then concealed the key in his sleeve, and headed back to Shawn and Detective Gordon.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

Carol woke to Hope's screams. She had been drifting in and out of sleep, but not for very long. She knew that she was the only one who could save Hope now. She was so unbelievably tired, but she had no choice. She had to do this for both Hope and her brother. She used all the strength she had left in her to get up off the floor. She looked over at Hope and to her horror, saw that Dr. Davis was starting to slide her torn nightgown up.

"Get away from me!" Hope screamed, trying to kick him to no avail. He was straddling her, and one hand was pressed down hard against her forehead, so Hope couldn't even lift her head.

Carol looked around for anything she could get to knock him out with. She saw a pitcher of water and quickly grabbed it. She then walked up behind him and brought it down hard on his head. It phased him for only a moment. He turned around and slapped Carol so hard across the face that she fell off the bed, hitting her head on the corner of the damned table that had already caused her so much trouble. Between the drug that was still in her system and the table, she was knocked out cold.

Hope screamed Carol's name. She was angry now. She took her opportunity of being free, and kneed Dr. Davis as hard as she could in the groin.

Dr. Davis howled in pain. "You bitch!" He smacked Hope repeatedly across the face, and then took out another syringe from the other side of his lab coat. He straddled Hope again, and scowled at her. "I gave you multiple chances to take the easy route, but you refused to, so now you have to pay. This will be your last dose. When injected, it works quicker and is much more severe. With no antidote, you will surely die."

Hope's eyes got wide. "Please just leave me alone! Give me the antidote, and I won't testify against you."

Dr. Davis chuckled. "See? Now there you go again, insulting my intelligence." He moved his face so close to hers, she thought he was going to kiss her. "You're going to die tonight," he said, nothing but evil in his eyes now.

"That's what you think, ass hole!" Carol snapped. She surprised him and knocked the syringe out of his hand. It flew across the room. She had only faked being knocked out so as to catch him off guard.

He bolted from the bed as she ran after it. He grabbed her leg, but she was determined to get the syringe before he did. She kicked her leg until she kicked so hard it got free from his grasp. Using the last ounce of strength she had in her, she kicked him hard in the face and grabbed the syringe and jammed it into his neck. "See how you like it, ass hole! Now you'll _have_ to bring out the antidote, or you'll be the one who dies!" She laughed, and then she suddenly felt nauseous. Out of nowhere, her head started to pound, and soon she was passed out on the floor…for real this time.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

Meanwhile. Aiden had the key card and walked up to Hope's door. Shawn and Detective Johnson were a few feet away so that Dr. Davis couldn't hear them as they went through back up options of how to save Hope.

Then, fast as lightning and before they could stop him, Aiden opened the door, and crashed into the room at the exact moment the repellers crashed through the window through a large opening they had made with a glass cutter.

"Aiden, what the hell? He said he had a gun and would kill mom if we came in!" Shawn yelled as he and Detective Johnson reached for him.

Aiden slipped into the room before they could grab him, and as he entered, he saw Hope sobbing with her hospital gown torn, and his sister lying motionless on the floor. Dr. Davis was hovering over Hope with a shot in one hand and a vial in the other.

"You son of a bitch!" Aiden yelled. He grabbed Dr. Davis by the collar and backhanded the shot and vial out of his hands. The vial crashed to the ground and shattered, spilling the liquid all over the floor. Aiden then punched him repeatedly in the face. "You bastard! What the hell did you do to my wife and sister? You were trying to inject my wife again, weren't you? Weren't you, you sick and twisted psychopath? I'm going to kill you!"

Dr. Davis grinned evilly through the blood from his nose that he was pretty sure that Aiden had just broken. "Your wife was such a good lay."

Aiden would have killed him had Shawn and Detective Johnson hadn't pulled him off of Dr. Davis and held him back.

Detective Perez walked over to Carol and felt for a pulse. "She's awake. Her pulse isn't great, but it's not super weak. She appears to just be sleeping."

"He injected her with a strong tranquilizer," Hope said through her sobbing.

Aiden broke free from Shawn and Detective Johnson and ran to Hope, holding her in his arms. "Baby, did he hurt you?" He started sobbing himself now. "Did he rape you?"

Hope shook her head. "No, but he tried to. Carol saved me, and then he knocked her out. She woke up again and saved me a second time from him injecting more of that horrible drug into me. She injected him with it to make him cough up the antidote, and then she passed out." She began sobbing again as Aiden held her close. "Aiden, I feel so sick! I need that antidote or I'm going to die!"

"I want him arrested for assault! He broke my nose!" Dr. Davis yelled as he pointed at Aiden.

"Funny, you have no proof!" Shawn snapped.

"You all saw it with your own eyes! What are you talking about, I have no proof?" Dr. Davis asked them.

"Funny, I didn't see a thing," Detective Johnson replied. He looked at Shawn. "Did you?"

Shawn shook his head. "Nope! Detective Perez, did you?"

Detective Perez shook his head. "Not a thing. "Detective Gordon?"

Detective Gordon shook his head. "I didn't see Aiden hit you. In fact, I saw Hope do that to protect herself from your attempted rape. Isn't that right, Hope?"

Hope narrowed her eyes at Dr. Davis. "That is a hundred percent right, Detective Gordon."

"You all are a bunch of crooked cops!" Detective Davis snapped. "The joke's on you," he said. He looked at Aiden. "That vial you broke? That was the antidote that I was trying to inject myself with. I didn't even have time to get any into the syringe before you smashed the vial. Guess what? That was the only tangible antidote I had. You needed every drop of it for it to be enough to save your precious wife! So don't bother trying to scrape it off the floor. It won't be enough. I have a photographic memory and therefore was able to leave no traces of the antidote formula to be found. The only place the formula is written down is in here." He tapped his temple. "Same with the Mardaliz, so there's no use in trying to analyze it so that you can figure out how to counteract it. True I could make more of both, but I'm not going to." He slowly backed up toward the window the whole time he was speaking. He looked at the detectives. "I'm not going to prison. I'd rather die!" He then looked at Hope. "I'll see you in hell Hope." He smirked. "Sooner than you think without that antidote."

All four detectives raced after him, realizing then what he had planned, but it was too late. He was too close to the window for them to make it in time to stop him, and he worked with incredible speed. He climbed out the window hole, and then dropped to his death. He didn't scream. In fact, he laughed the whole way down until the smash of his body against the pavement was heard followed by the sounds of the paserbyers' screams.

By then the Detectives were calling for medical help for both Carol and Hope, and Shawn was already on the phone with Kayla.

"Nobody touch the liquid on the floor!" Detective Gordon yelled. He got on his walkie-talkie and quickly explained the situation to the detective on standby. "We need to get a sample of the antidote sent to the lab right away. We need to know exactly what's in it, and we need the results by tonight. We can't afford to wait any longer."

Shawn hung up the phone. "Kayla is on her way, and she is bringing her own team. She wants Hope and Carol at her own hospital so that she can make sure they're getting the best care." He then turned to Aiden. "I told you to stay in the van!" he snapped.

"I'm sorry! I had to save my wife and sister. I couldn't just sit around doing nothing while they were in danger Aiden insisted again.

"Yeah, well by trying to save my mother you might as well have just killed her. By knocking that vial to the floor, you ruined a sure thing of her getting better. Now we just have to pray to God that the lab can duplicate it from the floor sample. If she dies, Aiden, this is all on you, and I will make sure you end up in jail this time…for a very long time at that," Shawn snapped.

"Shawn, stop it! He thought it was the Mardaliz," Hope said weakly as she clung to her husband feeling like death warmed over. "He was just trying to help."

But Aiden felt sicker than he would have if he had been injected with the Mardaliz himself, for he knew that Shawn was right. If Hope died because of lack of antidote, it would be all his fault.


	98. S4E23

_**This Love…**_

 _ **Season 4 Episode 23: Coming Home**_

Lucas held Amanda close with one arm and Liz with the other as both Amanda and Liz sobbed while watching their father/grandfather be lowered into the ground. It had been a very small funeral with only a handful of patients and hospital staff as the attendance. Word had gotten out about what he had done. It was all over the papers, and even people who had liked him before now no longer did, and couldn't be bothered to go to the funeral of a criminal.

Liz was sobbing hardest of all as she laid a lone red rose over his casket. Marshall's body, mainly his head, was in no shape for an open casket. Amanda hadn't wanted to cremate him even so. She didn't want to keep his ashes in an urn somewhere, and she felt it was too morbid and gross to spread them anywhere. She didn't like the idea of her father's body being spread out all over. She wanted him in one piece. Or what was left of him anyway.

Amanda placed her own rose on top of the casket, and then embraced her daughter as they both sobbed harder.

Lucas gave them a moment, and then wrapped his arms around them again and slowly led them to the black limo they had come in.

Amanda's mother was an only child, and had abandoned Amanda when Amanda was only one. No one from her mother's side ever made contact again. Marshall was an only child as well, and his parents had been older and were now long gone. Liz' father's parents had died in a car crash when she was only three, so they literally had no family left. He had been an only child as well. It was just Amanda and Liz.

"I can't believe he did what he did. And then to name the drug after me and Liz? He was sick. I don't know how I never saw the signs before. I was a bad daughter. I should have seen the signs and gotten him help." Amanda started sobbing again.

Lucas held her close and gently rubbed her back. "No one could have predicted this, Mandy. Please don't blame yourself. It won't do you any good. You're going to be all right. You both will. We'll all get through this together."

"He wasn't your father. You don't know the pain of losing a father," Amanda said with a sniffle.

"True, but my dad is never around. I know that's not the same thing, but… I know the pain from when I thought my son had died," Lucas tried again.

"But he wasn't dead in the end. My father really is, and he turned out to be a psychopath, which tarnishes even the memories." Amanda started sobbing again as she buried her face against his chest.

"Grandpa was always nice to me. I know he did very bad things, but I want to remember him for the good things," Liz said wisely.

Lucas smiled at her. "That's a very good way to think of it, Liz. He loved you very much. His brain was just sick."

Amanda sighed. "He did always tell me that Liz and I were the only good things in his life. A day didn't go by that he didn't tell us he loved us. So he couldn't have been _all_ evil."

Lucas shook his head. "What he did was beyond horrible, but we don't know what was going on inside his head. He clearly had a mental disorder. He wasn't in his right mind when he did all those horrible things." He knew that for sure when he read in the papers that he had laughed all the way down to the cement. Only a totally insane person would do that. But of course, Lucas wasn't going to bring that up in front of Liz…or even Amanda for that matter.

They arrived at Carlivati's for the after funeral lunch. The owner was kind enough to have his restaurant cater it on the house since Marshall had been such a loyal customer. Plus he felt bad for the daughter and granddaughter that Marshall had left behind to deal with what Marshall had done.

Amanda had no problem eating a big lunch, whereas Liz hardly touched anything on her plate. Lucas knew that people grieved differently. Some couldn't stop eating, like Amanda, while others, like Liz, couldn't eat a thing.

"Come on, Sweetheart. You have to eat. I know you're not very hungry, but you'll feel better if you eat something. I promise," Lucas said gently to Liz. Amanda had gone to the bathroom. Liz reminded Lucas a lot of Ally when Ally was her age, and he somehow felt the strong need to protect of her all of the sudden. She seemed so broken.

Liz looked at him with tear-filled eyes. "I miss him so much, Lucas! Do you think he knew I loved him? I didn't always remember to tell him."

Lucas felt his heart breaking for her. He side hugged her from his chair, which was next to hers. "Of course he knew you loved him and he loved you very much too! He wouldn't want you to be sad, or for you to starve yourself for him. He'd want you to be happy. So eat up even if it's just a few bites, all right?" he said gently as he rubbed her back.

Liz nodded. She then looked at him. "Am I bad for still loving him even after what he did to all those ladies?" She was a smart cookie even at only eleven. She may not have understood all of it, but she had gotten the gist of what he had done from reading the papers.

Lucas smiled at her. "Not at all. He was your grandfather. Of course you're going to love him. We can't just stop loving people when they do bad things…especially when they're family. Trust me, I wanted to disown my mother plenty of times and I did! She's always doing bad things. But I love her too much to ever say goodbye to her for good."

"Except I have no choice. I have to say goodbye for good," Liz said sadly.

Lucas kissed her cheek and gently stroked her hair. "I know. It will get easier. I promise. But know that I will always be here for you and your mother. You can call me any time you need me no matter what the hour. Okay?"

Liz smiled, though weakly. "Okay. Thank you, Lucas. You're a good person."

"And so are you." Lucas said to her.

She grinned, and then started to pick at the food on her plate.

Lucas smiled at her, and went back to eating.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

Kayla had stayed up all night working with the lab technicians and finally, found what she felt was the antidote. They didn't have much time, and she knew Hope needed it quickly. She gave it to her, having no other way to test it out, but she knew that it wouldn't hurt Hope, regardless.

Miraculously, Hope started feeling better within hours, and by morning, she felt a hundred percent herself again. They had moved her to a different room and had already had men coming in to fix the window. She would be allowed to go home in a couple days after they were a hundred percent sure that she was out of the woods.

Carol was going to be all right. She had a bit of a concussion, and was still a little drowsy. They had admitted her for the night, but she had no long-term damage, and she was due to be released that afternoon. Casey had been wheeled in to see her. He was still at the hospital, and he was livid when he had heard what Dr. Baker had done.

"I'd have killed him myself if I weren't in this stupid body cast," he insisted.

Carol only smiled. She knew as well as he did that he was not a killer and never would be no matter how angry he got. But she appreciated the sentiment anyway.

Carol came in to see Hope after he was wheeled back to his room, and Hope smiled at her.

"How's the hero doing?" Hope asked her.

Carol blushed. "I'm not hero. He knocked me out like twice."

"But you managed to get the drug in him so that it didn't end up in me," Hope reminded her.

"But it didn't work. We didn't get he antidote," Carol reminded her.

"That was my own fault," Aiden said, coming into the room. He had gone home briefly to see the twins, and now he was back. "I was just so sure that what he had in his hands was more of the Mardaliz. I thought he was getting ready to kill you," Aiden said to Hope, his eyes sad. "I just had to play the hero. All I ever wanted to do is protect you, but even now all I end up doing is hurting you."

"Aiden, please don't do that to yourself. I know you were only trying to help. Should you have let the police handle it? Yes. But I understand why you didn't. Your heart was in a good place, and that is what matters," Hope said to him.

"No matter _how_ stupid you were," Carol quipped.

Aiden looked down to the floor with a look on his face that reminded Carol of when he was five and she told him that she had overheard their parents say that they were tired of him and were going to put him up for adoption. Of course they had never said that, but the five-year-old Aiden hadn't known that at the time. Like then, she instantly felt bad. "I was only kidding, Gator-Aide. Any man in your position would have done the same thing. If Casey weren't in a full body cast, he'd have done the same thing for me."

"Shawn didn't react that way, and Hope is his mother," Aiden reminded her.

"Shawn is a cop. He is trained how to handle situations like this. You aren't," Hope reminded him gently.

Aiden looked at her and nodded. "You're right. I'm not a cop. And therefore I shouldn't have come crashing in here with guns blazing, so to speak, but I did," Aiden said, still looking crestfallen. He was tired of failing no matter how hard he tried to be the hero. He felt like a loser.

"Well, when Marshall finally uncovered my mouth, I could have spoken up and hollered out that Marshall didn't really have a gun like he said he did. Shawn and his men could have been in here a lot sooner if I had. I was too stupid to think about it. Heck, I even could have bit Marshall's hand to make him move it," Hope said, trying to make Aiden feel better.

"You were under a lot of stress. Your mind wasn't in a good enough place to think things through clearly," Aiden reminded her.

"The same goes for you. Aiden, come here." Hope held her arms out to him.

He walked over to her, feeling inferior.

Hope pulled him closed and kissed his cheek. "You did great. All that matters is that I'm here, I'm alive, I wasn't raped, and I'm getting better. And Carol is fine too. Nothing else matters, right?"

Aiden nodded, but she still felt like a teenage boy instead of a man. Once again, he had failed Hope, and it was eating him up inside.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

After the lunch, Lucas dropped Amanda and Liz back home, and when he was sure they were going to be all right, he headed back home. He was going to stay with them, but Amanda had insisted that she wanted to be alone with her daughter.

"I appreciate you being here for us. Maybe you can stay over on the weekend if you're not watching the twins," Amanda suggested.

"I can spend the evenings and nights with you if you'd like," Lucas said to her.

Amanda smiled. "I'd like that."

They kissed.

"Goodbye, Liz!" Lucas called up the stairs to her. "I'll come see you again soon, all right?" Liz had gone straight up to her room to lie down when they got home. She was still hurting, and Lucas knew the poor girl would be hurting for quite some time.

Liz didn't answer.

"She probably wants some time alone," Amanda said, apologizing for her daughter.

"I totally get it." Lucas kissed her one more time. "See you soon," he said before leaving.

Amanda sighed once he was gone. She couldn't believe her stupid father had died without even telling her how to create the Mardaliz. She could have made a fortune on it on the black market. She knew there were many people looking to get rid of someone in their lives, and the untraceable drug could have made them millions or even billions had had Marshall not been so stupid as to get caught using it, and then get himself killed. Her father may have been a genius when it came to creating things medically, but he was a dumbass in all other aspects. At least her father still left her and Liz with a fortune. He had also left her the house, so now at least they wouldn't have to live in this dump any more, and she would no longer have to work. Cutting hair was fun and all, but she was tired of her clients whining about not liking the way she did their hair, or them trying to get a cheaper price out of her, or asking for miracles when it came to their hair, and then getting mad at her when she couldn't do it. She wasn't God!

Amanda walked up the stairs and down the hall to her daughter's room, and then walked right in without knocking. "What do you want to do for dinner tonight? Maybe we can go out and see a movie or something."

"I'm not really hungry," Liz said. "We just had lunch anyway."

"Well, we don't have to eat dinner for a couple hours. I'm just asking ahead of time. Besides, you hardly ate anything anyway," Amanda said dryly.

"I'm too sad about grandpa to eat," Liz said simply.

Amanda scowled. Now that Lucas wasn't around, and now that she was no longer in public, she didn't have to pretend anymore. "Oh, please! He was an idiot who couldn't even use the drug he created without getting caught. He didn't even tell us the formula so that we could use it."

"Why would we want to use it?" Liz asked, sitting up straight in her bed and looking at her mother in surprise.

"Oh don't look at me like that! We could have made a ton of money selling a drug like that. We're talking millions or even billions!" Amanda informed her. "But no. Your dumbass grandfather had to selfishly kill himself before telling me the formula."

"Don't call grandpa a dumbass. It's not nice to speak ill of the dead. Besides, we have enough money without having to make people sick over it. Who wants to make money that way?" Liz asked.

"You can never have enough money, Elizabeth. And your grandfather was a dumbass, so I can say it if I want to! And it would do you some good to remember not to talk back to me." Amanda said, her eyes boring into Liz's. "Now where do you want to go tonight?"

"Nowhere." Liz threw herself back down onto her bed and sighed. "I'm too sad about grandpa to do anything."

"Will you get over your damn grandpa? He's dead! Get over it!" Amanda snapped.

"Just leave me alone!" Liz sobbed.

That was it. Amanda felt herself lose it. "I told you not to talk back to me!" She got onto the bed, straddled Liz, and smacked her across the repeatedly. Her weight made it impossible for Liz to do anything but turn her head.

"Momma, stop it!" Liz cried out.

"But it only made Amanda angrier. She grabbed Liz's bangs and stopped her from turning her head as she slapped her hard across the face one each way, and then ended with a punch to Liz's right eye. "I said never talk back to me, you little brat!"

Liz was crying so loudly then that it snapped Amanda back to normal. She climbed off of Liz looking startled, as if wondering herself what had just happened. "I'm sorry," she said quietly. "I don't know what came over me. I guess I'm just a little sad over losing my father. Everyone grieves differently. I'm going to order a pizza later. We can even rent a movie on On Demand or Netflix. You don't have to eat any of the pizza if you're not hungry." She said it calmly, but with no compassion or emotion.

Amanda then left Liz's room as Liz turned onto her stomach and sobbed into her pillow.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

Later that night, Amanda made nice. She gently knocked on Liz' door, and then came in with a pizza box in her hand with two cans of Coke and an ice pack on top of it. "I'm sorry about earlier. Does it hurt?" She nodded at Liz's right eye, which was rapidly turning a purplish, bluish, black.

"Only when I touch it," Liz said.

"Put this on it." Amanda handed her the ice pack.

Liz did as told.

"I know you've been wanting to watch _Pretty Woman_ for a while, but I never let you watch it because you weren't old enough. Well, I decided to let you watch it with me," Amanda announced. "Do you want to?"

Liz nodded. She wasn't in the mood to do anything with her mother, but she really did want to see the movie, and she feared another black eye if she told her no.

"I'm sorry again about earlier. It won't happen again. You just have to make sure you listen to me from now on. All right? I can't control my anger sometimes," Amanda said gently.

Liz wanted to tell Amanda that she never controlled her anger, but she knew better than that. Instead, she just nodded.

"If anyone asks about that eye, you tell them you fell down the stairs. All right?" Amanda asked her. "Or you can say you tripped over a shoe and fell face down on the coffee table."

"I'm always leaving my shoes around. I think that will be the better option," Liz said, knowing that going along with her mother was the best option for her. The other option, telling what Amanda did to her, would only result in very bad things for her, she knew. Amanda had ways of looking innocent, and the punishment for telling on her would make the black eye look like child's play. Liz knew her mother well enough for that to go without saying.

Amanda smiled at her and gently pat her head. "Good girl! We'll be coming into your grandpa's money soon, so tomorrow we can go and buy you some new clothes and toys." She turned the television and movie on then, and began eating her dinner.

Liz helped herself to a slice of pizza even though she wasn't too hungry. She had to behave now, she knew. If not, who knew what her mother would do to her next? She didn't want to find out.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

A few days later, Hope was finally able to come home. Aiden and Shawn had a mini surprise party for her. Doug, Julie, Jen, JJ, Lani, Eli, Roman, Shawn, and Ciara, who had flown down to surprise her mother were all there. Carol was there too, as were Bridgette and Chase.

"I'm feeling so much better! I feel like I've been dead for the past few weeks," Hope said.

"Just don't overdue it. Kayla wants you off the force for another week at least, remember," Aiden said gently as he led her to the door.

"Yeah, yeah. I am not due to go back until after the forth. Relax! Trust me, I already tried to get back early, but Roman won't let me." Hope rolled her eyes. "You're both way too overprotective of me."

"Baby, after what you've just been through, I don't think we're being overprotective at all. You couldn't have gone back to work anyway. Kayla won't sign your okay to go back to work," Aiden said matter-of-factly as he struggled with the key on purpose to alert their guests that they were on their way in.

"It's fine. It will give me more time to spend with the twins. God, how I missed them!" Hope said. She hadn't seem them in weeks!

"You first, my love," Aiden said, opening the door, and allowing her in first.

As soon as she walked in, everyone jumped out and yelled, "Surprise!". There was a huge _Welcome Home, Hope!_ banner hung up on the wall, and a giant _Welcome Home, Hope!_ cake on the coffee table. Balloons were everywhere, and they blew horns.

Hope grinned big. "You guys! You didn't have to do this."

"We wanted to, Mom," Ciara said to her.

"Ciara, you came home!" Hope hugged her daughter tightly. "I've missed you so much!"

Ciara hugged her back tightly. "I've missed you too. I have a surprise. After I graduate in May, I'm moving back to Salem. I'm going to do my four years of Veterinary School here. I'm going to take online classes and work with a vet at a local clinic."

Hope's eye slit up in surprise. "Not that I wouldn't be happy to have you back here in Salem, but what brought this on all the sudden?"

"Ever since Skylar and I broke up, I've been a little lonely. Then when you got sick, I realized how much I missed you, and that I didn't want to be away from you. Salem has always been my home, and it still is. I plan on looking for an apartment right away," Ciara explained.

Hope smiled. "Well, you're welcome to stay here until you find one."

Ciara hugged her again. "Thanks, Mom, but by the time graduation roles around, I'm sure I'll have found a place."

Julie practically smothered Hope with her hug then, and Doug was right behind her.

"I feel like digging up at Dr. Baker's grave just so I can kill him again!" Doug said.

Hope smirked. "That would paint quite the picture! My ninety-five-year-old father digging up a grave!" She smiled. "It's the thought that counts, Daddy."

Doug grinned. "I would have if I could."

Aiden and Shawn brought the twins over to Hope then. Haiden and Maddie both cried when they saw their mommy for the first time in weeks.

Hope started to cry too, and she took her two babies and kissed them. "I missed you so much! My little Maddie and Haiden. Mommy missed you too." She gently rocked them, and they calmed down instantly. They had been so overwrought with joy over seeing their mother again, that they had cried. But now they had calmed down and felt comforted by her arms.

Kayla and Steve arrived then. "Surprise!" Kayla said to Hope after Jen let them in.

"Thank you, Kay for helping to save my life," Hope said to her with a hug.

"The technicians did all the hard stuff," Kayla said with a wink and a smile.

Steve draped an arm over Kayla's shoulders. "My sweetness is always so modest. It's one of the things I love about you," he said looking into Kayla's eyes.

She smiled, and they kissed.

Hope smiled too. It felt good to be alive again!

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

It was the forth of July and everyone was at the park for a 4th of July barbeque.

"Are you sure you're up for this?" Aiden asked Hope as he held her hand as they walked into the park. Will had some writing to finish up and had kindly agreed to stay back and watch the twins for them while he wrote. They would be down for the night after they were fed and changed, so they wouldn't be a bother to him while he did his writing.

"Aiden, relax, my love. I feel better than I have in a very long time. I even go back to work tomorrow. I'm more than fine, and I am ready to spend a fun forth of July with my family and friends."

Aiden squeezed her hand and smiled. "All right."

They enjoyed their night, Aiden eating a normal dinner, and Hope pigging out on hot dogs and hamburgers, chips, fries, anything she could get her hands on basically. Much to her displeasure, Roman was making her go on desk duty until she felt in shape enough to go back to Detective. After having not eaten much for weeks, she wanted to have one final pig out before getting back in shape and getting back to normal again.

"I'm sorry. I know I'm being a pig," she apologized as Aiden watched her with wide eyes. She had just devoured her second ice cream sundae after all she had had for dinner.

He grinned. "You ate less when you were pregnant with the twins!"

"Oh hush!" she said with a pout. "I haven't been able to keep much down in weeks. It feels good to be able to eat again."

"Just don't overdue it. You don't want to shock your system," Kayla warned her. They were sitting with Steve and Kayla.

"It's a little late for overdoing it," Aiden teased. "They're going to have to roll her to her desk!"

Hope playfully stuck her tongue out at him. "Stuff it!" Then she realized what she had said and added, "No smart jabs about me doing a well enough job of that already."

Aiden laughed. "You said it, not me!" He took her hand in his own and kissed it. I'm only teasing. You have a right to eat what you want after all you've been through. It's not like you can't afford to. Your body is and always will be perfect. Even if it wasn't, it wouldn't make me love you any less."

Hope kissed him in response, and smiled. "Always my romantic."

"Boy does he lay it on thick!" Steve quipped. "I can see why you keep taking him back," he said to Hope.

Hope smirked.

Steve was still on the fence about Aiden, but Aiden didn't annoy him as much as he used to. He felt Aiden had proven himself a little since he had first come back onto the scene.

Kayla swatted Steve's arm. "It wouldn't hurt for you to take some lessons from him!"

"I don't need all those ice cream sundaes because I've always got everything sweet I need right here with my Sweetness," Steve said with a grin at her.

Kayla cocked her head as if thinking. "Hm… Slightly less meaningful since I basically had to tell you to say something nice, but it will do." She grinned at Steve and they kissed.

After it got dark, they all either laid out on blankets or sat in portable chairs, and watched the fireworks. It was an absolutely breathtaking display.

Hope and Aiden lay side-by-side on their blanket. Hope had her head resting on Aiden's shoulder, and he had his hand resting on hers over his stomach. Hope didn't know if it was the most beautiful fireworks display she had ever seen, or if she was just relieved to finally be happy and healthy again, and lying in her husband's arms. She felt like it was a combination of all of it. She and Aiden kissed, and then continued to lie contently together as they watched the finale.

When the show was over, they gathered up their blanket, and Hope and Aiden headed over to say goodnight to Chase, Bridgette, Shawn, Ciara, and Carol.

They said their goodnights, but Ciara was off to the side making a phone call. Hope wondered who her daughter could be calling so late.

Hope walked over to Ciara, and was surprised to hear her say, "I love you too. I miss you. I'll be back soon." Ciara hung up, and then jumped a little when she saw her mother standing there watching her. "Mom, what's up?"

"Aiden and I are leaving now," Hope said cautiously. "Who was on the phone? Do you have another love in your life?"

Ciara blushed. "You heard that."

Hope nodded. "Is it another girl?"

Ciara slowly shook her head. "I decided I can like both girls and guys. This time I happened to fall in love with a guy again. I actually feel lately that I like men better."

"May I ask who it is or how you met him?" Hope asked.

"When the time is right." Ciara hugged her. "Goodnight, Mom. I'm so glad you're feeling better." She was staying with Shawn until the next day when she had to go home.

"Is it someone I'm going to like?" Hope asked.

Ciara hesitated. "If you can keep an open mind about him."

Hope raised an eyebrow at her. "Why don't I like the sound of that?"

Before Ciara could reply, Aiden came over, having finished his goodnights. "Goodnight, Ciara! Did you enjoy the fireworks?"

Ciara nodded. "They were great! Best ones yet I think."

Aiden smiled and nodded, and squeezed Hope's hand. "I think so too." He smiled adoringly at Hope. He then looked at Ciara again. "Will we see you again before you leave? Maybe we can all do breakfast together in the morning."

"As long as Mom's not cooking, I'm down for it!" Ciara joked.

"Hey!" Hope said, feigning hurt. "So Denny's then?" she asked with a grin, knowing as well as everyone else did that she could not cook.

Ciara and Aiden both laughed.

"Sounds good. I'll call you in the morning." Ciara hugged both Hope and Aiden and wished them a final goodnight, and then left.

"What's wrong? Are you feeling sick again?" Aiden asked Hope with concern when he saw the look of worry on her face.

Hope shook her head. "Ciara has a new boyfriend that I may or may not like. She said I have to keep an open mind about him. She wouldn't tell me any more details."

Aiden chuckled, and took her hand. "Ciara's a big girl. You know better than anyone that she can take care of herself. Ciara's going to date whomever she wants to date whether you like them or not, so it's no use even worrying about it," he said gently.

"Easier said than done. I'm always going to worry about my daughter, just as you're always going to worry about Chase, and we're always going to worry about the twins," Hope said with a sigh as she let him lead her by the hand to the car.

"And you're always going to worry about Shawn," Aiden reminded her.

Hope nodded. "Exactly! Although he's a bit more responsible than Ciara, so I worry a little less. Until he's working, then I worry a lot. I know I'm not one to talk since his father and I were and are in law enforcement too, but I wish he had chosen a safer job."

"But he wouldn't have been as happy as he is now if he had," Aiden said as he opened her door for her.

"True." Hope got into the car, and he shut her door for her then got into the driver's side.

"As long as our kids are happy, we've done our jobs. The rest is up to them," Aiden said wisely as he shit his door and buckled his seat belt.

Hope nodded. "I know you're right." But as they drive home, and she thought of all the horrible possibilities of guys Ciara could have chosen, Hope wasn't quite sure that letting Ciara make her own decisions was a good thing.


	99. S4E24

_**This Love…**_

 _ **Season 4 Episode 24: Ready for It?**_

A little over a month had passed. It was now the second week in August, and Hope was feeling a hundred percent better. She was hoping to finally leave the perils of Doctor Davis behind her and just enjoy life with her family and friends. She was sitting on the couch with Aiden, sipping a lemonade with him and watching their twins crawl along the floor.

"I can't believe they're going to be one in a few weeks. Where does the time go?" Aiden asked.

Hope shook her head. "Beats me. I've had more of my share on children in my life, so you think I'd get used to it, but I never do. My babies seem to grow up faster and faster every time."

Maddie started chewing on a plastic shaker ring she had.

"Uh oh. Looks like Maddie's cutting another tooth," Aiden said. He got up and headed into the kitchen to get the two teething rings from the fridge. Haiden usually wasn't too far behind Maddie when it came to new teeth coming in.

When Aiden came back out, Maddie saw that he had the ring, and much to his and Hope's surprise, she got up and slowly toddled to him.

Hope quickly took out her phone and began recording it.

Maddie fell a couple of times, but was determined to get her teething ring and kept getting back up as she reached out to Aiden for her teething ring.

"Good girl, Maddie! You want this? Baby come here." He held it out to her, and a moment later, Maddie finally made it. She grasped her tiny fingers around the teething ring and began to chew on it.

Hope and Aiden looked at each other with happy tears in their eyes.

"I'm so glad I didn't miss that! Thank God that didn't happen when I was too sick to see it," Hope said as she watched Maddie chew on the ring.

Aiden handed Haiden is teething ring, and then walked over to Hope and pulled her into a kiss. "I love you so much," he murmured to her, resting his forehead against hers.

"I love you too," Hope said with a happy smile as she pushed some hair out of his eyes and kissed him lovingly in return.

Hope then turned to Haiden. "Are you going to walk too? Come here. Comes see Mama." She held out her arms to him but he just stared at her blankly as he chewed on his teething ring.

"Haiden, come on. Come to Dada," Aiden tried just for fun. He didn't think Haiden would listen since he hadn't listened to Hope. But to both his and Hope's great surprise, he set down his teething ring, got up, and toddled over to him. He was even better at balance than Maddie had been. He only fell once before making it to his daddy.

Hope had been fast enough to whip out her phone and record him walking as well. She was happy to see him walking, but a little hurt that he wouldn't come to her, yet he had come to Aiden upon first calling.

"He likes you more than he does me. Maddie does too. Remember how she always used to cry unless she was in your arms?" Hope asked as she stopped recording.

Aiden had praised Haiden and picked him up.

Aiden looked at her with sympathy. "He doesn't love me more, and neither does Maddie. They're not even one yet. They don't know any better. Who knows why babies do what they do when they do? Trust me, Baby, they love their mommy. Remember how they both cried when they finally saw you again and they snuggled up in your arms and fell asleep? They were so overwhelmed and happy to have their mommy back. Trust me, Baby, they love you just as much as they love me."

Hope smiled weakly. "I guess you're right." She then grinned. "We're going to have a bunch of little terrors on our hands now that they discovered how to walk. They're only going to get better at it as time rolls on."

Aiden grinned. "I know, but I think we're up for the challenge."

Hope grinned too. "From your lips to God's ears."

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

Chase and Bridgette walked around the square holding hands. They were both happy and content. Chase had started college, and though the workload was bigger than it was in high school, he was managing, and he enjoyed school. It was Saturday, and he was grateful to have a day off to baby clothes shop with Bridgette. They had just bought several bag-fulls of clothes for the baby.

"I think we're going to need a bigger apartment just to hold all the stuff we got for the baby!" Chase said.

Bridgette laughed. "I think you may be right. They have two bedroom apartments on the top floor of my building. Maybe I can talk to the landlord and see if he has any available. It's not that much more per month. I just never needed two bedrooms before."

Chase nodded. "I think we should definitely do that. Or we could live with Casey and Carol in mine and Carol's condo. He hasn't officially moved in for good, but he gets his body cast off today, and I'm pretty sure he doesn't plan on going back to his apartment. Jake loves our condo too much."

They both laughed.

"I think Casey does too. I heard him saying his other apartment is a dump compared to your condo even though his apartment is nice," Bridgette said.

Chase nodded. "Yeah, his apartment is decent, but it's not nearly as nice as our condo. Not to sound like a snob or anything."

Bridgette smiled at him and squeezed his hand. "You could never sound like a snob."

Chase smiled at her in return. "Likewise." They kissed. "So, what should we do tonight? Unfortunately I have to work, but I'll have time to have dinner with you first," he then asked her.

"Well, I actually have an appointment to tell me the sex of our baby. I wanted to surprise you with the gender, but if you'd like to come with me, I think that could be even more fun." She smiled.

Chase smiled too. "I'd love to! Then we can do dinner right after."

Bridgette nodded. "And after that, I thought I might go visit my mother and tell her about the baby. I know she and I aren't exactly close, but that's only because of Hank. I really wish she'd divorce him. He drinks all the time, and I'm sure he hits her. He's turned her into someone I don't even recognize anymore. I don't know how she got so wrapped up in a relationship like that. My father was nothing like him! Now she just takes Hanks's abuse and stands by him. When married to my dad, my mother never would have taken any kind of abuse like that. Though thankfully, she never had to worry about it with my dad. My father was the best father a girl could ever ask for."

"The mind is a very complex thing. Maybe your mom feels that if she is in a bad marriage this time, then she can never love Hank as much as she loved your father, and therefore she can't get hurt that badly again," Chase reasoned.

Bridgette nodded. "It could be. I just wish she'd come to her senses one day soon. I want my real mom back—not just a shell of the woman she used to be."

Chase rubbed her back. "Well, you can be there for her, and we can pray about it. Father Lewis tells me to pray all the time about things that concern me."

Bridgette nodded. "Believe me, I do." She then looked at her watch. "I think it's time we head to that appointment now. Are you ready to find out what we're having?"

Chase smiled big. "So ready!"

"What do you want?" Bridgette asked him.

"Whatever you want!" Chase said.

"I want a girl, but if you want a boy, that's totally fine with me," Bridgette said to him.

Chase smiled. "Not that we have the choice." He winked at her. But I think a girl would be perfect. That way she can look just like you."

Bridgette smiled big and kissed him; touched. "You're always so sweet. Now let's go find out!" she said.

They grinned at each other, then ran off laughing, hand-in-hand toward the car.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

"It feels so dang good to get that cast off!" Casey said as Carol helped him stretch his arms and legs. "I know I have a ways to go before I'm completely back to normal, but this is an excellent start!"

"Now you have to be more careful once you get back to work," Kayla warned him.

"Can I go back to work by next week?" Casey asked.

Carol and Kayla both laughed.

"Dream on!" Kayla said to him.

Casey groaned. "A guy can dream. At least I have my team still working on Hope and Aiden's house. I'd have felt bad if I had to postpone it."

"I'm sure my brother and Hope would have understood," Carol said gently.

"Still, I want it to be done by April for their anniversary," Casey informed her. "I just wish I could have been one of the people to build it." The disappointment showed clearly on his face.

"Well, if all goes well with your therapy, you might just be able to help build it during the tail end," Kayla told him.

"If you had been more careful, you wouldn't have broken nearly every bone in your body, and you would have been able to build it," Carol teased him.

"If you had agreed to marry me, then my mind wouldn't have been on you, and I wouldn't have fallen," Casey teased back.

Carol rolled her eyes. "Don't pin this on me. I have a right to not want to get married if I don't want to. How we react to things is of our own doing. You should have called off that day if you couldn't keep your mind on what you were doing."

"I don't want to fight about this again," Casey said. He really didn't. He loved Carol, and she had taken such good care of him when he couldn't take care of himself. He supposed that he could live without being married. It was better than losing her for good. He knew now that he loved her too much to let her go.

"You're going to have to get started on your rehabilitation right away. We don't want you losing control of your muscles and limbs all together. But other than that, you're e a very lucky man, Casey. It appears that all your bones have healed quite nicely," Kayla informed him; pleased.

Can he continue living at my place?" Carol asked.

"Of course! He can do out patient. And it will actually be better that he lives with you so that he has help when he needs it," Kayla replied. "I'm just going to go get your pain meds refilled, and then you're free to go," she said with a happy smile at Casey.

"Thank you," Casey said, smiling back at her.

"Can we at least live together permanently? If we can't be married I want to at least move in together permanently," Casey said to Carol once Kayla had left the room. "Chase is always at Bridgette's anyway, but I'd even be okay with it if they lived with us. It might be kind of cramped, but if it means being with you full time, then I'm all for it!"

Carol shook her head. "No."

Casey looked confused. "No? No what? You don't want to live together?"

Carol shook her head again. "Not without being engaged and married."

"So you don't want to ever live together or…" Casey trailed off.

Carol smiled. "All I'm saying is that I may or may not be ready to marry you now. You'll never know if you don't ask…properly."

Casey broke into a big grin. "I may ask you sooner than you think."

"I'll be waiting," Carol said with a smirk.

Kayla came in then with Casey's prescription. "Well you two looks suddenly happy!"

"Happier than you could ever know," Casey responded.

Carol smiled big. The feeling was mutual.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

"I feel bad leaving the twins when I've already been away from them for so long," Hope said to Aiden as he led her into the rooftop apartment they shared above his office.

"One night won't hurt them or us. They're in good hands with Shawn and Claire," Aiden gently assured her.

"I know. I just miss them already," Hope said.

"Don't you miss me too? Don't you miss being with me in a way you couldn't when you were sick?" Aiden asked as he gently kissed down the side of her neck. "I know I sure as hell missed being with you," he murmured as he gently pushed her hair out of the way.

Hope closed her eyes. She had forgotten how good it felt to be alone with him while feeling sick-free. Aiden had planned this impromptu overnight for the two of them to be alone and she was starting to see what a good idea it was. Kayla had warned them to take it easy in the love making department until she felt a hundred percent better. She had suggested that Hope give herself time to heal even if she felt better. Kayla wanted to make sure there were no relapses from overdoing it. But now, plenty of time had gone by and neither Hope nor Aiden had wanted to wait any longer to be together.

Hope closed and locked the door behind them. "I suppose a night without them couldn't hurt." She draped her arms over his shoulders and smiled. "I wanna be with you, Mr. Jennings. I don't want to wait any longer."

Aiden picked her up and led her to the bed. "You're not going to have to." He was going to light some candles, but with the beautiful city view in front of them, he really had no need to. He had already made sure that the room was filled with fresh tulips in both the flower bed and in vases all over the room. The room smelled amazing.

"I love you, Mr. Jennings. I never want to go this long without you ever again," Hope said quietly as she looked into his eyes, so overwhelmed with love for him. "I never would have gotten through my sickness had it not been for you."

Aiden paused for a moment.

"What's wrong?" Hope asked with concern.

Aiden was still wracked with guilt. "It's because of me you got sick. I introduced you to Marshall, and I'm the one who knocked the first batch of antidote to the floor."

Hope gently pushed some hair out of his eyes. "You had no way of knowing about either of those things. Please, Aiden. Don't beat yourself up over it. Just make love to me, okay?" Hope kissed his jawline. "I need you." She kissed his lips. "Make love to me? Please?"

As Aiden looked down into her beautiful blue-green eyes, he knew he could never say no to her. He wanted her as much as she wanted him. He kissed her lovingly and passionately, and soon they were undressing each other, and finally making love. He had forgotten how wonderful it was to make love with her and he fell even more in love with her than he ever thought possible. The thought that he could have lost her again all because he had both trusted someone he shouldn't, and acted before he had thought about his actions… It was almost too much to bear. So he made it up to her by making love to her most of the night, and then later, holding her in his arms and watching her sleep. He made a promise to himself that night to never ever let anyone or anything hurt her ever again. He had to. He wouldn't survive losing her for a third time.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

"Are you nervous?" Chase asked Bridgette as he held her hand. She was lying on the doctor's office table, her shirt up, as her OBGYN prepared her for the sonogram.

"A little," Bridgette said, and then winced at the coldness of the gel on her stomach. "I just want him or her to be healthy, as clichéd as that sounds."

Chase gently squeezed her hand. "That's all I want too." He kissed her hand.

"So you definitely want to know the gender now?" the doctor asked with a kind smile. "If you want, I can put the gender in an envelope and you can open it later for a gender reveal party."

Chase and Bridgette looked at each other, contemplating what they wanted.

"What do you think?" Bridgette asked Chase.

Chase shrugged. "I don't know, what do you want? In some ways I think a gender reveal party would be cool. In other ways, I don't want to wait to find out."

"Let's do a gender reveal party!" Bridgette said. "I always thought those looked so fun!"

Chase nodded. "All right." He was disappointed at having to wait, but if it made Bridgette happy to wait, he was more than willing to wait.

The doctor smiled as she examined the baby in Bridgette's womb. "Everything looks healthy. Your baby is growing just the way it should be. I can get a clear gender on the baby too, so I will get that gender put in an envelope, and you can be on our way until two weeks from now when I see you for your next checkup!"

"Thank you." Bridgette smiled happily. She was so glad that her baby was healthy, and she could hardly wait to set up the gender reveal party.

They celebrated over dinner at the square, and then Bridgette kissed Chase goodbye, and took her own car to her mother's and stepfather's house. They had stopped back home after the doctor's appointment for Bridgette to pick up her car.

Chase headed in his own car to work.

Bridgette walked up to the door and knocked. She wasn't pleased when her stepfather answered. He was barefoot, and appropriately enough, wearing a white wife beater with cigarette holes in it and baggy jeans with no belt. His hair was a mess, he apparently hadn't shaved in days, and his breath reeked of alcohol. He had a beer in his hand as usual.

"What do you want?" He snarled.

"Hello, Hank," Bridgette said, trying her best to be polite. "I came to see my mother."

Hank burped in her face, and then laughed before walking back into the living room and plopping himself down into his recliner that he was practically glued too. That's the only place he ever was whenever Bridgette saw him. He was watching the ball game and yelling at the TV.

Bridgette shut the door behind him and went to find her mother. She found her upstairs in the bedroom, putting makeup on her right eye. Bridgette could see that the eye was black.

"Mom, did Hank hit you again?" Bridgette asked her; alarmed.

Cindy, Bridgette's mother, looked at her in surprise. "Bridgette, what brings you here?" She smiled. "I'm wearing the sweater you bought me. I never had anything cashmere before."

"Mom, answer my question. Did he hit you?" Bridgette pressed.

Her mother sighed, and looked her in the eyes. "Honey, you're young yet. One day when you get older, you'll understand that men aren't always easy to please. I screw up a lot. Hank can't help it that he has a bad temper. I shouldn't upset him when he drinks."

Bridgette could not believe what she was hearing come out of her mother's mouth. "Mother, who are you? When you were with dad, you never would have talked like that, nor would you have taken this kind of abuse!"

Cindy looked away. "I was young and naive then. You'll understand when you get older."

Bridgette shook her head. "I understand what abuse is, mom, and I understand that it is never acceptable under any circumstances! As for him drinking, that's no excuse! And he always drinks. So what? You have to walk on egg shells every day of you life around him? Mom, that's no way to live!"

"I don't want to talk about it. What did you stop by for? Not that I'm not happy to see you." Cindy continued to cover her black eye with concealer.

"I'm pregnant, Mom." Bridgette lifted up her baggy sweatshirt to show off her baby bump. "I'm about four months along now. You're going to be a grandma." She smiled at her.

Her mother glanced at her daughter's stomach. "Is that Chase boy the father? He seems nice. I hope he's going to marry you. I still think you're too young to have a baby though."

"We don't want to get married until he's through with college. And people have children at an even younger age than me, Mom. I'm twenty-three," Bridgette reminded her gently. She purposely avoided telling her mother that Chase wasn't the father. That would mean telling her she had been raped, and she wasn't quite ready for that yet. Her mother never listened to the news, and her stepfather was always too drunk to know a thing about any news. Anyway, except for a few bits here and there, for the most part, the rape had been kept out of the news, thankfully.

Suddenly, Hanks's voice could be heard from downstairs. "Cindy!" His footsteps stomped up the stairs. He came into the room. "Woman, what the hell is taking you so long to make my sandwich?"

"I'm sorry, Hank. I just wanted to cover up my black eye so that I'd look pretty for you," Cindy quickly apologized.

"Yeah, well I told you a half hour ago to make me a sandwich, Bitch. I want you to go downstairs and make me one now! And while you're at it, get me another beer. I shouldn't have had to come all the way up here to ask you!"

Cindy got up right away. "I'm so sorry. I was talking to my daughter."

"Make your own damn sandwich! You're not an invalid!" Bridgette snapped at Hank.

Hank whipped around to face her. "I'd watch my mouth if I were you, girl!"

Bridgette sneered at him. She wasn't afraid of him. "Or what? You're going to hit me like you did my mother?"

Quick as a viper, Hank reached out his hand and struck Bridgette hard across the face. "I told you to watch your mouth!" he snarled.

"Don't you touch my daughter! I know I deserve to be hit, but my daughter does not!" Cindy suddenly spoke up.

Bridgette was standing there in shock, her hand over the cheek that Hank had hit.

"Woman! What did I tell you before about talking back to me? You never talk back to me! Do you hear me?" He slapped Cindy hard across the face. From the sounds of it, it was even harder than he had slapped Bridgette.

Cindy cried out in pain.

Bridgette snapped then. With an animalistic cry, she pounced on her stepfather and began kicking and punching at him. However, he was too strong for her. He grabbed her hair and punched her in the face, and then he dragged her out of the bedroom and toward the stairs.

"Let go of me!" Bridgette screamed.

"You let go of her right now or I'm calling the cops!" Cindy yelled, running out of the room after them. "I mean it!" She had her cell phone already in her hand with 911 brought up.

Hank looked over his shoulder at his wife. "You want me to let her go? All right. I'll let her go." He picked Bridgette up easily and prepared to throw her down the stairs.

"Hank, don't! She's pregnant!" Cindy yelled at him.

He smirked. "Pregnant, aye?" He asked Bridgette.

For a moment, Cindy and Bridgette both thought he was going to set her down. Then is eyes turned to pure evil. "Good! The last thing we need is the baby of a slut in this world." Then, he held Bridgette higher right before tossing her as hard as he could down the stairs.

There was nothing that Cindy could do but scream in horror as she watched her daughter fall to the bottom of the stairs like a ragdoll.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

"Casey, this is crazy," Carol said with a giggle as she wheeled Casey somewhere un-known. He had made her put a blindfold on while she pushed his wheelchair and he voiced directions to her. He could walk, but not without crutches. His legs were still a little weak. Kayla had said he should be able to walk unaided in a couple days. Though, he'd still have a lot of therapy to go through.

"We're almost there," Casey said.

Finally, after what seemed like forever, but was really only about a ten minute walk, Casey told her she could stop. "You can take off your blindfold now," he instructed her.

She did, and she smiled when she saw that they were by the lake.

"I know it's not the most romantic spot, but being in a wheelchair I'm kind of limited," Casey said to her.

Carol smiled. "I think it's very romantic. The moonlight on the water is breathtaking."

"I just didn't want to wait another moment after having waited so long for you to give me the go ahead." Casey reached into his pocket and took out a black velvet box. "You're just going to have to pretend that I'm on one knee." He opened the box, and Carol gasped at what she saw. It was an oval shaped ruby with a yellow gold setting, just as she had said she wanted. All around the ruby were tiny diamonds, and there were tiny diamonds all over the band as well.

"Casey, it's beautiful! I love it!" she said, tears of happiness in her eyes.

"I got it the day after we went to the jeweler, and I kept it, hoping you'd eventually want to marry me," Casey said proudly. He then held it out to her. "Carol, I have never loved any woman the way I love you. That is why I never asked anyone to marry me until now. Carol, will you please do me the honor of becoming my wife?"

Carol had tears in her eyes as she looked at him. "Yes! When I thought I was going to lose you, I realized how much I really do love you. I thought I'd never get the chance to become your wife, and it was killing me almost as much as the thought of you dying."

"Had I known that I would have almost gotten myself almost killed a lot sooner!" Casey teased.

Carol laughed. "Oh shut up and put the ring on my finger!" She held out her left ring finger.

"Well _that's_ romantic," Casey teased with a wink and a smile. He slipped it on her finger. "I feel like the luckiest man on earth!"

"I'm certainly the luckiest woman on earth," Carol said, instantly admiring the ring on her left ring finger. "You know, I'm surprised you didn't do something like attach the ring to Jake's collar with a sign asking if I'll marry his daddy!"

Casey instantly looked crushed. "That would have been the best! Why didn't I think of that? Dang it! I hope Jake's not upset to not be part of the proposal."

Carol laughed. "You're still recovering from falling three stories onto a car. I think he'll give you a pass on this one. He can make it up to him by letting him be your best man at the wedding." She was just teasing.

Casey was not. "I already planned on it!" he said with a grin.

Carol laughed. It would be absurd, but she wouldn't have it any other way.

"Come here. Come sit in your fiancé's lap!" Casey said, patting his lap.

"Are you sure I won't hurt your legs?" Carol asked.

"I'm sure! Come on. I want to hold my fiancé in my arms. Gosh I love the sound of that. My fiancé. Has a nice ring to it, doesn't it?" Casey asked her with a smile.

Carol sat in his lap and smiled too. "It does," she said, and she was surprised to realize that she was being sincere. For the first time in as long as she could remember, she was truly happy. She had a feeling that this time it was because she was marrying out of love, and not because she was young and bored and it was something to do.

She kissed Casey lovingly on the lips. "I love you Casey."

"You better! You just said yes to marrying me," he teased with a grin.

"I mean it!" Carol said, playfully swatting his chest. "I never loved anyone as much as I love you."

Casey looked at her with love in his eyes. "And I love you more than I've ever loved anyone too, Carol," he murmured, gently stroking her hair.

They kissed, and then with a happy sigh, Carol rested her head against Casey's chest as they stared out at the moonlight on the water, holding hands, and so very happy to finally be engaged.


	100. S4E25

_**This Love…**_

 _ **Season 4 Episode 25: Breathe**_

Bridgette's mother dialed 911 immediately. She had just enough time to tell then what happened before Hank wrestled the phone away from her and clicked it off. He tossed it onto the bed, and began strangling her. "Woman, you know better than to call the cops on me," he growled.

Something in Cindy suddenly snapped. With a force she herself didn't even realize she had in her, she lifted her leg up and kneed Hank hard in the groin.

Hank cried out in excruciating pain and released her neck as he held himself. "You bitch!"

She grabbed a mini lamp from her vanity and smashed it over his head, knocking him out cold on the floor.

She kicked him hard in the ribs three times for good measure. "That was for my daughter, myself, and my unborn grandchild!" She then ran down the stairs as fast as her legs would take her. Bridgette was out cold, but to her mother's great relief, there was a strong pulse when she felt for it, and her daughter was still breathing evenly.

"I'm _so_ sorry, Baby. This is all my fault! I never should have gotten involved with him. It's all my fault. I don't know what I was thinking!"

Cindy was still sobbing over her daughter when the police and the ambulance arrived. Thankfully, the address had shown up the instant she had made the call to 911.

"What happened?" one of the ambulance workers asked.

"My husband threw her down the stairs. She's pregnant," Cindy said, tears still in her eyes as the EMTs looked Bridgette over, checking for anything that might be broken. They had smelling salts, which they used to wake her up.

She groaned.

An EMT flashed a penlight into her eyes, checking to see if everything looked all right. "Miss, are you all right? Does anything feel broken?"

"No…" Bridgette groaned. "What happened?"

"Hank threw you down the stairs," Cindy said, her voice shaky. "I'm so sorry, Baby. It's all my fault! I never should have married him or brought him into your life!" She started sobbing again.

Bridgette's eyes suddenly got wide as she remembered what had happened. "My baby. Is my baby all right?"

"We won't know until we get you to the hospital and checked out, Ma'am. We're going to get you there right now," one of the EMT workers said to her gently.

The EMTs then got to work at getting her onto a stretcher.

"Is this Hank person still in the house?" one of the two officers on the scene asked.

Cindy nodded. "He's out cold upstairs. He tried to strangle me after throwing her down the stairs, so I kneed him in the groin and then knocked him out with the lamp. I also may have kicked him a few times in the ribs, but after what he did to my daughter he deserved it! Arrest me for assault if you need to, but please let me go to the hospital and make sure my daughter is going to be okay first."

"Seeing as you were acting in self defense, no one if going to arrest you. And we're willing to overlook the kicks to the ribs," a hint of a smile appeared on the officer's face, but it quickly disappeared. "We'll meet you at the hospital. I'm assuming you'll be riding along with the ambulance?"

Cindy nodded. "Yes." She got her shoes on, and then followed the EMTs out while the officers went up to arrest Hank for his attack on Bridgette. If Cindy agreed to press charges for trying to strangle her, which she planned on doing, he would be charged with the assault on her as well.

Cindy held her daughter's hand on the way to the hospital.

"I'm scared mom," Bridgette whispered to her.

"I know, Honey, but Mommy's here for you now. I'm never going to let you down again. I promise." Cindy kissed her daughter's hand.

Bridgette nodded. Somehow, she knew she could trust her mother this time. Besides, right now, the last thing she wanted was to be alone.

 _ **~*came back to me*~**_

Forty-five minutes later, Bridgette had been admitted to the hospital overnight, and Kayla had examined her. Kayla looked solemn then.

"How's my baby?" Bridgette asked with tear-filled eyes. She could already see what the answer was in Kayla's eyes.

Kayla had tears in her eyes as she delivered the bad news. "I'm so sorry, Sweetie. The baby didn't survive the fall."

Bridgette burst into tears then as her mother held her close, crying herself even though she had only found out just over an hour before about the baby.

"I'm so sorry, Bridgey. I'm so _so_ sorry! This is all my fault!" Cindy cried.

"It's not your fault, Mom. It's Hank's," Bridgette said through her tears.

"But I'm the reason he was even in your life to begin with!" Cindy reminded her.

"You couldn't have known what he was going to do," Bridgette replied with a sniffle. She looked mournfully at Kayla. "So what happens now? I give birth to a still born?"

"You could, or we could remove it as one would do for an abortion, only of course, in this case, the baby would already be dead," Kayla said simply. "It's called a Dilation and Curettage, better known as a D & C. We have to open the cervix and remove the contests of the uterus. I know it sounds scary, but you'd be under anesthetics of course. There is some risk, but it's not too likely you'll have any complications. You will still be able to have children after the procedure."

"I want that. I don't want to carry this baby to term. It's too much for me," Bridgette told her. She felt horrible, but she couldn't bear carrying the baby to term knowing it was dead inside her.

"We could induce labor, so that you would be able to give birth to the baby within twenty-four hours. If you had the D&C, you wouldn't be able to see the fetus before cremation," Kayla explained gently. "It obviously wouldn't be in any condition for a plain burial after this procedure."

"He or she is dead anyway. I want the D & C. Please, I just need it to be gone." Bridgette had tears in her eyes.

"Your baby can still be cremated, what's left of it anyway after the procedure," Kayla said quietly. She felt horrible for having to say all this to Bridgette, but she needed to know.

"I want to sign the papers and have the D & C done," Bridgette said.

Kayla explained the full procedure to her and all the risks. "Is this still what you want?"

Bridgette nodded.

Kayla nodded as well. "I will bring in the papers for you to sign, and we can get this done. It won't take too long, and you can be out of here by tomorrow."

And so, things were set in motion, and two hours later, after only a little bit of waiting and prep time, Bridgette had her surgery and was in recovery. She had had a general anesthesia, so she was sleeping. Kayla informed Cindy that Bridgette would have to stay the night for observation, but everything had gone all right.

Cindy thanked her. Cindy then called Chase. Bridgette didn't want him to be bothered at work, but she didn't want Chase to worry, so Bridgette had begged her mother before her surgery to tell Chase that she had left Hank and needed her daughter to stay with her for the night. Cindy didn't want to go against her daughter's wishes, so she told Chase over the phone exactly what Bridgette had wanted her to tell him.

Chase was very kind and understanding about it, and politely said that he was sorry things hadn't worked out for her and her husband.

"I'm not. He is a horrible person, and I should have left his sorry ass a long time ago. Have a good night. I'll send Bridgette back to you in the morning," Cindy said.

Once they hung up, Cindy went back to her daughter's room to hold her hand.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

Hope smiled as Aiden gently woke her up. He had hot coffee, orange juice, a chocolate croissant, and bacon for her from the deli next door. He had some for himself as well so that they could have breakfast in bed together. He brought it to her on one of the TV trays they had in the room.

"Mm, this all looks and smells delicious!" she said. She kissed him. "When did you get this? I didn't even hear you leave." She bit into the croissant, closed her eyes, and moaned. "So good!"

Aiden set his own breakfast on his tray, and then climbed back into bed next to her. "You were out cold. I got up a half hour ago and went next door."

"You wore me out last night," Hope teased with a smile, and a gentle elbow to the ribs.

He grinned. "You were just too irresistible to me to resist, as always."

They kissed again, and then ate their breakfast.

They fed each other pieces of their bacon, and they laughed and joked about the twins. They were starting to get their own little personalities now. Haiden was more reserved, but Maddie, they could both tell, was going to be a little terror…especially now that she was learning to walk!

When they finished their breakfast, Hope set her tray aside, and then stood up, letting the blankets fall off her naked body.

Aiden moaned at the sight of her, already wanting an encore of the night before.

She smiled over her shoulder at him. "Wanna join me for my shower? You know I can never reach my back myself," she purred.

Aiden got out of bed, ready to pounce on her in reply, but then his cell phone rang.

Hope raised an eyebrow. "Are you going to get that?"

"It can wait," Aiden told her.

"It could be important. What if it's Shawn about the twins?" Hope didn't know why Shawn would call Aiden instead of her, but just in case…

Aiden walked over to his phone and looked at it. "It's Carol," he said.

"I'll go heat up the water. Join me when you can," Hope said, kissing him passionately, and placing his freehand over her right breast.

He moaned. She grinned over her shoulder at him again, and then disappeared into the bathroom, leaving him aching for her.

"This better be good," he said, answering the phone.

"Good morning to you too, Little Brother. I really need to talk to you. Are you free any time soon? I take it from the way you answered, right now isn't a good time." Aiden could practically see her smirking on the other end.

"Is it important?" Aiden asked. It was his last day off before heading back to the office, and he had wanted to spend it with Hope.

"Kind of. I only need a half hour of your time. Can we do coffee at the pub or something?" Carol asked. "Please Gatoraid?"

Aiden sighed. "All right. Give me an hour and I'll be there."

"Thank you. I love you." Carol kissed the phone.

"I love you too. See you soon." Aiden hung up the phone and tossed it onto the bed, and then undressed before running to the shower to greet Hope.

"What did your sister want?" Hope asked, pulling Aiden close, and resting her forehead against his the moment he entered the shower.

"She wants to talk to be about something. Apparently it's important." Aiden took the loofa from her, added soap, and then turned her around and gently began to wash her back for her.

"Any idea what it might be about?" Hope asked, curious now.

"With Carol, who knows?" Aiden replied. He finished washing her back, and then turned her back around and began washing the rest of her body. "But I don't want to talk about my sister right now. I have an hour, and I want to spend it with you; not wasting time talking about her."

Hope pulled him closer to her, and tossed the puff aside. "I think that can be arranged," she purred into his ear. She delicately licked a trail up the side of his neck all the way to the back of his ear. Then she began kissing up his jawline.

He moaned. 'Well aren't you feisty this morning?"

"What can I say? I'm a woman who knows what she wants and goes for it," Hope murmured.

He moaned again, suddenly wanting her as much as she wanted him. He picked her up and made love to her right then and there. They were both filled with so much passion and desire for her that Aiden was going to be late to meet Carol, but at the moment, he really didn't care.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

"You're fifteen minutes late," Carol said, her arms crossed and her foot tapping as she gave Aiden the evil eye as he walked into the pub.

"Hello to you too," he teased, kissing her cheek. "So sue me."

Carol smirked. "Even I know better than to try suing a lawyer as good as you."

"Damn straight!" Aiden said.

Carol grinned. She could never stay angry with her brother for long. "Hope?" she asked in reference to his reason for being late.

Aiden nodded with a grin on his face that told her all she didn't want to know.

"Spare me the details," Carol said with an eye roll before sliding into a booth. "I already ordered your coffee for you with water, just as you like. "Are you hungry?"

Aiden slid in across from her. "I actually had breakfast before you called, but I don't mind sitting with you while you eat."

"Good cuz I'm starved."

Five minutes later, Carol had ordered an orange juice and a stack of pancakes with sausage and bacon. Then she smiled at Aiden once the waiter had gone to put her order in. "I've got news."

"Good news I hope?" Aiden asked. After the terrible ordeal with Marshall, he didn't think he could handle anymore bad news.

Carol smiled big. "Very good news. It might come as a shock to you." She held out her left ring finger to him and wriggled it, showing of the diamond and ruby engagement ring. "Casey and I got engaged last night. He proposed to me by the water!"

Aiden smiled big. "I thought you weren't ready to marry again!"

"I didn't think I was, but when I almost lost Casey, I knew then without a doubt that I wanted him to be my husband," Carol explained.

"Let's hope the fifth time's the charm," Aiden couldn't help but tease her.

"The fourth time!" Carol corrected him. "You always seem to forget that I had my marriage to Bobby annulled."

"You still married him," Aiden reasoned.

"Not according to the law. As a lawyer, you know that," Carol said smugly.

Aiden rolled his eyes. "Fine. "Hopefully the forth time will be the charm then."

"Thank you. How's Hope doing?" Carol asked as she sipped Aiden's coffee.

He smacked her hand away and pulled his mug back. "Mine! You should have ordered yourself one if you wanted one."

She stuck her tongue out at him.

"She's doing all right. She's just happy to be feeling herself again and back with the twins," Aiden answered her question.

"It was horrible what that freak did to her. I can't imagine being sick for so long and then realizing your doctor is the one who did it to you. Or that he is a pervert trying to rape you." Carol shuttered. "Disgusting!" She reached for his coffee again, but he quickly pulled it away from her. "Of course he had to end up in her life of all doctors."

Aiden suddenly felt a familiar pang of guilt again.

Seeing the look on Aiden's face, Carol instantly regretted her words. "Ah, Gatoraid, I'm sorry. You know I didn't mean it like that. How were you to know? No one knew. I know you never would have brought him into her life if you had had any inkling at all that he was off." She took his hand across the table and gently squeezed it. "You love Hope. She knows that, I know that, everyone knows how much you love that woman."

"I _did_ have an inkling." Aiden corrected her. "I knew after a while that he seemed off, but yet I still had him become Hope's doctor. Even after he had hit on her, I still called him. What the hell was wrong with me?"

"As pervy as he was, he was still one of the top doctors in the Salem area. You were just trying to get what you thought was the best care possible for Hope, and Kayla didn't seem to be getting the job done. In some ways, it was the right thing taking her to Marshall anyway. After all, he was the only one who had the antidote," Carol tried to reassure him.

"Which I spilled out of his hand," Aiden argued.

"Only because you thought it was the Mardaliz. Aiden, you've got to stop beating yourself up over this! It wasn't your fault, okay?" Carol was annoyed with him. He was the kindest man she knew, and yet he never seemed to have the confidence to back it up.

"I guess," Aiden said, not sounding convinced at all.

Carol changed the subject. She said what she had to say, and it was now up to him to believe her. "My being engaged isn't the full reason why I called you here."

Aiden looked at her. "What's the rest? My gosh, you're not pregnant, are you?" He grinned.

Carol rolled her eyes. "As if, you Dweeb! I've already gone through menopause anyway."

Aiden made a face. "Okay, TMI."

"The reason I asked you is because… Well, Casey and I want to get married in two weeks. August 31st to be exact."

"So soon?" Aiden asked in surprise.

Carol nodded. "I've been married too many times before. I really don't feel the need for a big wedding, and Casey says all he wants to do is marry me. It doesn't matter how, or even where or when to him. I don't want to wait any longer. I almost lost him, and I don't want to take any more chances. I want a small wedding in that Baptist church on of all roads, Church Road. Casey is a Baptist, so that is really the only request he had. He likes the Pastor there, Pastor Riley, and he has already agreed to marry us."

"Well that was quick!" Aiden said. "You must mean business!"

"Casey and I went to see him this morning, and yes, I do," Carol explained. "We even have our first counseling session set up already."

"Well, congrats! I'm so happy for you, Carol. You deserve to find happiness like I did." Aiden pat her hand, proud of his big sister.

"I was kind of wondering, even though it's only going to be a handful of our friends and family, would you please walk me down the aisle? I don't have Daddy any longer, and I want this wedding to be special even though it's small. I want my little brother by my side. It won't mean as much without you giving me away." Carol had tears in her eyes.

Aiden had tears in his eyes as well. He got up and held his arms out to her.

She smiled and got up and let him hug her as she hugged him tightly in return.

"It would be an honor to walk my beautiful sister down the aisle," he said to her.

Carol cried out in happiness. "Thank you."

"You never have to thank me, Carol. I'm your brother. I don't care if you're older than me, it's my job to be here for you," Aiden told her.

"Well, good! Because I'm always going to need my little brother," Carol said to him.

"And I'm always going to need my big sister!" Aiden said to her.

Carol gave him another tight squeeze, and then sat back down in the booth.

Aiden said down as well, and when her food came he ordered her her own coffee, and a stack of pancakes for himself. "New this good demands a second breakfast to celebrate!" he told her.

They grinned at each other.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

Chase smiled at Bridgette as she appeared home the next morning. He pulled her close and hugged her. "How was your time with your mother? I guess it's a good thing she finally got rid of Hank, huh?" He rubbed her back. "Are you all right? You don't look as happy about it as I thought you would."

Bridgette looked him in the eyes without emotion. She felt dead inside. She just didn't care anymore. She didn't care about anything. "The reason my mom broke up with Hank is because he hit her, and then he hit me. He threw me down the stairs even though he knew I was pregnant, and then he tried to strangle my mother when she called 911."

Chase was shocked into silence for a moment. "Are you all right? Why didn't you call me? What about the baby? Why didn't your mother tell me?"

"I told her not to," Bridgette said simply. "It was something I was going through that I only needed my mother for."

"What about me? I was going to be our baby's father. Is he or she okay?" Chase was worried now. He could tell by how Bridgette was reacting that the answer to his question was no.

She looked him in the eyes. "I lost the baby."

Chase went to embrace her. "Baby, I'm so sorry!"

Bridgette stepped back before he could hug her. "It's fine. It's probably for the best. I mean, who wants a rapist's baby, right?" She smiled.

"Bridge, come on. I know that's not how you truly feel." Chase reached for her again, but again, she quickly stepped out of the way.

"It is. You weren't even the father, so who cares? It's no big deal," she said with a shrug.

"Bridgette, stop that," Chase said. She was scaring him.

"Stop what, Chase? Stop being honest? He or she really was a rapists' baby. Who wants a reminder of being raped? God took care of something for me that I was too much of a coward to do myself. I should have just aborted it from the very beginning." Bridgette looked away.

"You don't believe in abortion, Bridgette. You told me that yourself," Chase said carefully.

Bridgette whirled around to face him. "You know what? I really need you to leave. You don't really live here anyway, and your things are just taking up room. Please, go back to the condo where you belong, and leave me be."

"Bridge, you don't mean that," Chase said gently, longing to hold her, but knowing she wouldn't allow it. "You're just depressed right now, and understandably so. But please don't push me away because of this. We both wanted this baby, and we're both hurting!"

Bridgette narrowed her eyes at him. "You can't even begin to know what I've been through or how I'm feeling, Chase. You're one of the rapists, not one of the victims, remember?"

Chase's face fell. He felt as if Bridgette had just torn his heart out and stomped on it.

"I'm sorry. Just go, okay? I don't think it's a good idea for us to be together anymore," Bridgette said quietly.

"Bridge, you can't possibly mean that. You're just hurt like last time," Chase said gently.

But Bridgette nodded. "I do mean that. I'm breaking up with you…for good this time. So please gather your things you have here and leave my apartment. Now. I thought I could be with a rapist, but I just can't be. I want you out of my life."

Chase nodded, tears in his eyes, and feeling like his whole being had just been torn in two. "Fine," he said quietly. He then headed to the bedroom, grabbed his duffle bag, and stuffed it with clothes. He then went into the bathroom and gathered up his toiletries. The majority of his clothes were at the condo still anyway.

"I'll call you," he said from the doorway of the apartment when he was about to leave.

"Don't bother, Chase. I told you. It's over…for good this time," Bridgette said dryly.

Bridgette shut the door in his face, and then Chase went to his car, loaded it with his things, and then sat down behind the wheel and sobbed into his hands. Little did he know that Bridgette was sitting on her bed at that same moment, doing the exact same thing.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

"I wish you'd have let me give you a proper bachelor party," Evan said to Casey as they and Aiden sat on the beach drinking beers, or in Casey's and Aiden's case, a Coke. Neither one had ever been much of a drinker. Alcohol had never appealed to either one, but especially not to Casey.

They were all sitting on a blanket, watching the sunset, with Jake lying lazily by Casey's side.

"I mean, you're not even allowing a stripper!" Evan said.

Casey shrugged. "You know me. Partying has never really been my thing. This is what makes me happy. Sitting on the beach with my two best friends and my brother-in-law to be, drinking a cold Coke on a nice warm night watching the sunset on the beach. Anyway, who needs a stripper when I'm already marrying the most beautiful woman in the world?"

"One of the most," Aiden corrected him. "Hope is just as beautiful."

"And so is Tammy!" Evan chimed in.

Casey smiled. "We're all pretty lucky, aren't we?" He gently pat Jake's head.

"We sure are," Aiden agreed.

"For sure," Evan replied before taking a sip of his beer. He then looked at Casey. "I'm sorry Michael didn't want to come. Unfortunately, being a ten-year-old boy, a wedding sounded to him like an invitation to learn the history of gardening."

Casey and Aiden both laughed.

"It's all right. I understand. So where's he staying?" Casey asked out of curiosity.

"He's staying with my folks," Evan told him.

"How are they? Gosh, not to be rude or anything, but I know they had you slightly late. Aren't they in their mid eighties by now?" Casey asked.

Evan nodded. "My dad is eighty-seven, and my mom is eighty-six. They're hanging in there. They certainly couldn't handle Michael full-time, but they enjoy it when he comes for short little visits."

"How about Tammy's parents?" Casey asked next. "I know her dad died when she was real young, but what about her mom? Did she ever remarry?"

"Her mom never did re-marry. She said her husband had been the love of her life and she never planned on finding another love of her life. She claimed he didn't exists, so she didn't even try. Sadly, she died of cancer last year," Evan said solemnly.

"Did she? I'm so sad to hear that! She was a nice lady. Tammy never told me," Casey said in surprise. "Though, I guess it's not something one would like to talk about…especially since her sister died of the same thing." Her sister had died of leukemia ten years earlier at only seventeen years old. The grief had nearly killed Tammy.

"Our son and I are the only ones Tammy has now besides her cousin Angelica of course, but she's always busy with her concerts. Tammy's not too close to her aunt or uncle," Evan explained. "But let's not talk about depressing things." His eyes lit up mischievously. "Let's play truth or dare!"

"Truth or dare? What are we, high school girls?" Aiden joked.

"It's even more fun to play when you're adults! Just one round. Come on. There's only three of us, so it won't take long," Evan insisted.

"Trust me, he won't shut up until we play," Casey said.

Evan shook his head in confirmation. "You have to answer the question or do the dare. If you don't, you automatically have to do the opposite of what you picked and you can't back out."

Aiden sighed. "Fine. Truth."

Evan grinned, and tapped his lips as he thought of a good one. "All right. What is the kinkiest thing you and Hope ever did in bed?"

Aiden shook his head. "Hope would kill me if I ever told our secrets, and frankly, I'm not that kind of man who discusses his private life, so dare."

Evan grinned wickedly. "Strip down completely naked and run into the ocean, and then come back out to the sand and roll around in it until the sand sticks to your entire body."

Aiden looked at him. "You are one very sick and twisted individual."

Evan smiled and shrugged. "I take that as a compliment!"

"Why do you want to see him naked?" Casey asked Evan with a wrinkled nose.

Evan shrugged. "I don't, but it will be an inconvenience to him, so that will be worth it."

Aiden rolled his eyes. "You're lucky no one else is around this part of the beach." He stripped off his clothes, and then wiggled his bare butt at Evan and Casey.

Evan laughed, and Casey groaned, and covered his eyes. "Leave me out of this!"

Aiden then ran into the ocean, and Jake ran after him.

Jake doggy paddled out to Aiden, and then Aiden quickly ran back to shore. "Sorry, Boy, but this water is freezing at night!" He then ran onto the sand, and as dared, rolled around in the sand.

Jake had followed Aiden out of the water and a moment later was rolling in the sand with him, kicking the sand everywhere as he lay on his back and shook his four paws in the air.

All three men were laughing hysterically.

Aiden then got up and ran back into the water, and again, Jake followed him.

Once the water had washed off all the sand from both of them, they headed back to shore. Aiden dried himself off, and redressed. "Your turn, Evan. Don't be a baby. Pick Dare."

Evan grinned smugly. "I intended to anyway."

"You see that old lady all the way down the beach walking her dog?" Aiden pointed to a ways down the beach.

Evan nodded. "Yeah… What about her?"

"Nudity is legal on this beach, so you won't get in trouble if you do this dare. I dare you to go moon her." Aiden smiled smugly.

Evan grinned. "No problem! I have all the confidence in the world when it comes to my body." Casey stood up, as did Aiden, and they walked down the beach with Jake until they got to the

old lady.

Casey and Aiden stood back with Jake, while Evan walked right up to her.

"Good evening, Madam. I hear there is going to be a full moon out tonight!" Evan said to her. He then turned around and pulled down his pants and underwear, giving her a full moon.

The old woman placed a hand to her heart and gasped as her little Yorkie began yapping. "Well I never!" she scoffed before storming angrily down the beach away from them, the little Yorkie continuing to yap angrily.

"Have a good night now!" Evan said, wiggling his fingers at her before pulling up his pants and underwear up again.

Aiden and Casey were on the ground laughing hysterically.

Evan came over to them, grinning like the Cheshire cat. "All right, Casey. It's your turn. You get to do both since you're the groom-to-be."

"Shouldn't it be that I don't have to do either?" Casey asked.

Evan shook his head. "Not the way I play. "Truth or dare? You pick what you do first."

Casey sighed. "Let's get the dare over with."

"I dare you to go even further down the beach to where there are more people, and shout out that you love men," Evan said.

"It's a little juvenile, but coming from you it could have been worse." So Casey did as told and shouted loud and proud that he loved men. He got weird looks, but no one seemed to pay much attention to him other than that.

"Time to watch the sunset," Casey said as he headed back their blanket.

Jake, Aiden, and Evan followed after him and when they got to the blanket, they all resumed their seats.

"Not until after your truth," Evan said with a smile. "Aiden, I'll let you take this one."

Aiden nodded. "All right. "Casey, what is the one thing that annoys you most about my sister?"

Casey snorted. "That's easy. It's her indecisiveness! You can never make plans with her because she is always changing her mind."

Aiden laughed. "I know _that's_ right! One time when we were younger, she made me walk to the corner store because she was dying for peanut butter cup ice cream. They were all out, so I had to walk down to the store one block down. I ran back as fast as I could so that it wouldn't be melted when I got back. You know what she said when I handed it to her?"

"Hm?" Casey asked.

"She said, 'Gatoraid, I changed my mind. I want cookie dough. Would you be a dear and go get me some? Maybe some chocolate sauce too?'"

Casey laughed. "I believe it!"

"Did you get her some?" Evan asked, curious.

Aiden shook his head. "Hell no! I told that witch to go get her own damn ice cream. I then grabbed a spoon, locked myself in my room with the ice cream, and ate the hole tub of peanut butter cup myself. The joke was on me in the end. I was up half the night throwing it back up. Too much ice cream and way too sweet."

Casey and Evan both laughed.

"Tough break, Man," Evan said.

"Carol to this day never ceases to remind me of it," Aiden said with a blush.

The men then sat on the blanket in silence, drinking their drinks (a bowl of water for Jake) as they watched the sunset together. It was a beautiful end to Casey's last night as a bachelor.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

Meanwhile, Carol was having a much different kind of party for her bachelorette party. She was currently stuffing bills into the G-string of a twenty-year old who was barely a man. He had the looks of a young Tom Cruise though, and a young Tom cruise just happened to be one of Carol's many types.

"Can you take the G-string off since it's my bachelorette party? She asked him. His stage name was Dick Harding.

He smiled, displaying a row of perfectly white teeth at her. "Sorry, but we're not allowed to do that. Not even in the back rooms."

Carol bit her bottom lip. "Darn!"

"But I can give you a private lap dance," he offered.

"Please!" Carol requested.

He grinned and whistled to someone behind the curtain. Soon, a stagehand brought out a folding chair, which Dick motioned for her to sit down in.

She sat down, her eyes as big as a child's on Christmas.

He then began to straddle her, basically dry humping her in nothing but his tight little G-string.

Carol cheered as Hope and Tammy watched in amusement.

"I prefer older men myself," Tammy quipped. "That boy could be Carol's son!"

Hope smirked. "She likes her men young. I'm surprise she is marrying someone only a few years younger than she is. I like my men either older or younger. I never really dated men my own age for some reason." She raised an eyebrow as Carol playfully slapped Dick's butt upon permission. "But I definitely do not like them _that_ young."

Tammy laughed.

When the lap dance was over, Dick did a little bit more dancing on his own with Carol still on the stage screaming her head off. Then he bowed to the audience, thanked them, and kissed Carol's cheek, wishing her congrats before he escorted her off the stage, and then went back stage.

"And now, for your viewing pleasure is Tony the Tiger!" the announcer announced.

Carol smirked. "Gloria would be in her glory—no pun intended. I'm so sad she couldn't make it out tonight. Her flight was delayed. At least she'll be at the wedding. Oh and Chase said he and Bridgette are going through something and he didn't feel like a party. Neither did she. But he'll be at the wedding. Bridgette politely declined. Neither one would tell me what was wrong. I hope they're all right."

"I'll have Aiden see what he can find out," Hope replied.

"Man, I can see why your friend likes him. Look at the package and the buns on that one!" Tammy bit her bottom lip as she stared at Tony the Tiger. "That is one sexy dude!"

Carol laughed and Hope rolled her eyes. Hope personally only had eyes for Aiden, but it still amused her to see her two friends drool over the men like they were in heat.

"It's my birthday. Can I get a lap dance?" Tammy asked Tony.

Tony grinned at her. "Sure thing, Baby. Right after my performance, okay?"

Tammy blushed, and grinned from ear to ear.

"It's your birthday?" Carol asked her. "Why didn't you say anything to us?"

Tammy looked at her. "Because it's not. I just want a free lap dance." She wriggled her eyebrows up and down suggestively at Carol and grinned.

Carol laughed, and even Hope couldn't help but laugh too. Both women were hopeless. But, it was Carol's last day as a bachelorette, so Hope didn't find anything wrong with her and Tammy making fools of themselves for the night. Besides, it was kind of fun to watch them go all gaga over the men, she though with a smirk.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

As promised, Aiden walked his sister down the aisle. Carol was classic Carol wearing a bright red ball gown with a matching red hat with a white veil attached to it. The dress and hat were both made of silk, and the vail was made of lace.

Casey was wearing a white suit, and looked at her with so much love that Aiden gave his sister away with full confidence that she was going into good hands.

Carol and Casey didn't want a long and drawn out wedding, so after a couple scripture readings and some spiritual words from the pastor, they began their vows.

"I never thought I'd marry again after being married three times," Carol began.

"Four!" Aiden coughed.

Carol glared at her brother. "One was _annulled_!"

Their friends laughed.

"But then I met you, and even though I tried to fight it, I knew you were going to be my number five, or four. Crap he's got me saying it now!" Carol continued.

Again, everyone laughed, and Casey smiled.

"When I almost lost you, I realized then how much I truly love you. The thought of you dying without me having married you and without me having let you know how much I love you was unbearable. Well, I'm saying it now, Casey Michaelson. I love you…more than I've ever loved any of my past husbands. And I know that we will have the best life imaginable together," Carol finished her vows.

Casey smiled. "My sweet Caroline. "I love you more than I've ever loved anyone in my entire life other than Jake!" He smiled at Jake, who barked beside him. Jake was of course, his co-best man with Evan as his other best man.

Carol smirked. "Gee, thanks."

"You know what I mean," Casey said. "The main thing that got me through my falling off the roof, was you. Thinking of you is what gave me the strength to pull through. I never want to live in a world that you aren't in, Carol. What you mean to me is more than anything I could ever put into words. So, I'm going to put it into someone else's words."

Carol looked confused, and then she started laughing as Casey took out a guitar and with the pianist, began playing "Sweet Caroline."

Casey sang the song to her, and when he finished the song, Carol had tears of happiness in her eyes. She wiped them away with her veil.

She hugged him, but was saving the kiss until they were married.

They then read off traditional vows too, and after that, the pastor finally pronounced them man and wife as Casey and Carol kissed passionately and everyone cheered and applauded for them.

They all went straight to Chez Rouge for the reception after that, and had a wonderful catered dinner. Afterwards, they went out onto the dancefloor for dancing.

"I'm worried about Chase, Aiden said to Hope as they slowly swayed to the music. Carol and Casey had danced to "Independent Love Song" by Scarlet for their song, and then the other couples had joined in. "He came to the wedding without Bridgette, and he left before the reception was even over. He barely at a thing. He hugged Carol and kissed her cheek, and told her he wasn't feeling well. He shook Casey's hand and wished them both congratulations, and then he slipped out without even saying goodbye to me. I only know all of this because Carol told me. Apparently, he has been living back at the condo, and hasn't seen Bridgette in days, but he won't talk about it when Carol inquires about them."

"Maybe you can talk to him," Hope suggested. "He might be willing to open up to his dad."

"Maybe. But the fact that he didn't even say goodbye to me makes me wonder if he even will," Aiden said. He looked so sad, and Hope noticed it. He hadn't been himself in the past few days.

"My love, what's wrong?" She gently stroked some hair out of his eyes. "You seem so sad, lately. Am I not making you happy?"

Aiden looked her in the eyes and almost cried at her question. "Baby, please don't ever think that. You make me _very_ happy. In fact, you're are one of the brightest parts of my life! I'm fine, really. I'm just going through a blah period, that's all. I'm sure it's just because summer is almost over. On the other hand, things are always slow at the office over summer, so maybe in September when work picks up it will cheer me up more."

Hope smiled. "And our babies are going to be one! I want to throw them a birthday party. Just a small one of course, but I want to theme it as maybe an under the sea party."

"That would be nice," Aiden said, doing his best to smile. The truth was, on the inside he felt like he was sinking into a dark hole. However, he didn't want Hope to worry, so he put on a happy face. He kissed her hand. "I think we should plan to go on a cruise for our first anniversary."

"It's eight months away!" Hope teased him.

"I know, but it never hurts to plan ahead," Aiden said. He needed something to look forward to, but he didn't tell Hope that.

"True. Where would you want to go?" she asked.

"Baby, anywhere you want to go. As long as I'm with you, I'll be happy," Aiden told her, kissing her hand.

She kissed his lips. "I'll think about where I want to go and let you know."

He grinned. "Okay."

They continued to dance then as Aiden buried his nose in her hair, hoping that this feeling of total and utter despair would pass soon.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

When it came time to toss the guarder and the bouquet, Lucas caught the guarder, and Tammy's cousin Angelica caught the bouquet.

"It looks like we'll be getting married soon," Angelica teased Lucas.

"To each other?" Lucas teased back.

Angelica shrugged. "Sure, why not? You're hot, and you have a sense of humor. Is tomorrow good for you?"

"Of course, Baby! Let's do it! I can't wait to marry you!" He kissed her cheek and she giggled.

Amanda squeezed her glass off Champaign as she watched them and would have broken it, but then Lucas turned to her. "Want to dance?"

"No." Amanda put her glass back down. "I want to go home."

"Are you not feeling well?" Lucas asked her with concern.

"No, I just don't want to stand here and watch my boyfriend flirt with another woman!" She stormed off toward the car.

Lucas followed her out of the restaurant and to the car. "Amanda, you're being ridiculous. We were just joking around!"

Amanda glared at him. "Am I being ridiculous, Lucas? Am I really? You freaking kissed her right in front of me!"

Lucas laughed. "Oh my gosh, Amanda, you're acting stupid! I was not kissing her! I was joking with her. It was not a real kiss!"

"I don't like being called stupid, and I don't like being lied to. What the hell, Lucas! I thought you loved me!" Amanda whimpered.

"Amanda, you're acting kind of psycho right now," Lucas said gently.

It was the wrong thing to say. Amanda snapped. She stomped right up to him and punched him hard in the face.

Lucas stumbled backwards; shocked. "What the hell, Amanda?" Thankfully, her fist had hit him in the forehead and not the nose, but it had still been enough for him to see stars.

"I'm _so_ sorry!" Amanda burst into tears. "Please don't leave me!"

"Amanda, this isn't the first time you've hit me. You have some serious anger issues you need to resolve!" Lucas snapped at her.

"I know, and I will! I'll take anger management or something. Just please don't leave me. I can't bear to raise another baby alone!" Amanda cried.

Lucas looked at her in surprise. "Come again?"

Amanda sniffled. "It's the hormones that make me so crazy. I'm sure of it! I found out yesterday that I'm pregnant, Lucas. You're going to be a daddy again. Isn't that great?" She smiled big.

Lucas smiled too, but though he knew he should be happy to have another child on the way, he felt as if she had just told him he was dying of cancer.

 _ **~*came back to me.*~**_

"Now we're both married at the same time," Carol said with a grin as she danced with her brother to "Just the Two of Us".

Aiden grinned. "We were when you were married to your second and third husbands…excluding Bobby." He winked at her. Bobby was the one she had had annulled.

"You finally count it as an annulment!" Carol said happily

Aiden laughed.

"Well, this is the first time we're both happily married at the same time and not in marriages we're not happy with," Carol corrected.

Aiden nodded. "True. I'm proud of you, Sis. I love you. You deserve this kind of happiness."

"So do you." Carol held him close. "Never forget that."

Aiden fought back the tears as he held her.

When the dance ended, she kissed his cheek, and then went to say goodbye to her friends.

"Your wedding was so beautiful. It makes me want to have another wedding," Tammy told her.

"I love you dear, but we're not spending money on a second wedding. The first one cost enough as it is!" Evan teased her.

"Fine. Maybe I'll divorce you and marry Tony the Tiger then," Tammy said simply.

Evan scrunched his eyebrows together in confusion. "The cereal tiger?"

"You know Tony too?" Gloria asked, having overheard.

Tammy nodded. "I got a private dance from him last night!"

"I'm going to kill you, you lucky bitch! He's mine!" Gloria said.

"I'm deeply confused," Evan said.

"Trust me, you don't want to know," Carol said, patting him on the shoulder.

"I'm sure you're right," Evan told her.

They said their goodbyes, and after receiving all the congratulations, and Carol and Casey running through a tunnel of rice being thrown at them, and then they got into their rented white limo and headed to Chicago to spend a few days of wedded bliss. They were saving their honeymoon until spring. Casey wanted to wait until Hope and Aiden's house was finished being built, and of course, most importantly, until he felt his full self again. He still got achy when walking for long periods of time.

They rode the four hour drive to Chicago, and then got checked into their hotel.

Casey carried Carol over the threshold, and they spend the night making love, and sleeping happily in each other's arms, so very happy to finally be married.

Come morning, Carol smiled as she woke up in Casey's arms. "Good morning, Mr. Michaelson."

He grinned. "Good morning, Mrs. Michaelson. Gosh I love the sound of that!"

Carol grinned. "Me too."

Casey began kissing her, wanting to make love to her again, but she gently pushed him away. "I have to go to the bathroom first."

"Don't be long," Casey told her with a smile.

"I won't be!" She grinned over her shoulder at him, and then disappeared into the bathroom.

Casey decided to flip on the television then to the morning news. He knew how long Carol could take in the bathroom. He didn't know what she did in there!

Suddenly, a vision flashed on the screen that chilled him to the core. It was from last night. There were police cars. It was pouring rain, and there was a totaled car, which Casey recognized all too well. "It's just a car like theirs," he said to himself. "It's not theirs." But when the news anchor spoke, it proved Casey wrong.

"Last night at eleven sixteen at night, two people were tragically killed in a head on hit and run collision last night. Reports say that a black Sedan was seen speeding through a red light and came barreling into the victims' car killing both the driver and the passenger instantly. No one else was hurt, but the driver and passenger, whom we can now identify as forty-eight-year-old Evan Donaldson and his wife forty-seven-year-old Tamara Donaldson, died on impact. Investigators are on the lookout for the black sedan. They are said to have a partial license plate number given to them by one of the witnesses. Some say the driver of the black Sedan was driving erratically, and police feel that they are possibly looking at a DUI."

Pictures of Evan and Tammy appeared on the screen then, making it all the more real. Casey burst into tears then at the loss of two of his very best friends. He had known Evan for years, and even though they hadn't always seen each other, it had still been nice to know they could see each other if they wanted to. Now, he'd never be able to see his friends again. At least not in this lifetime.

Carol heard his sobs and quickly ran into the bedroom. "Honey, what's wrong?" she asked in alarm. "Did something happen to Jake?"

Casey shook his hand and pointed to the television screen.

Carol looked, and when she realized what had happened, she put a hand to her heart. "Oh dear… Oh Casey, Baby, I'm so sorry! I know how much you loved them, and now much they meant to you." Carol took him into her arms, and as he sobbed hard against her chest, she burst into tears too. It was hard to believe that her new friends, her friends she had just had a blast with the past couple of nights, the friends who had been so full of life, were now dead, never to be seen or heard from again until she and Casey too were dead.

They cried together for what seemed like an eternity.

Carol then switched the television off and laid down on the bed with Casey as he cried himself to sleep in her arms.


End file.
